Geeks, the web, and demographics

I just got an email from a friend who said "I read your blog. I enjoyed the bits that weren't over my head :-)". I realized I need to be blogging about non-technical stuff (I thought I already was :-)). The timing of my friend's remark coincides with a thought I had about digg.com the other day, which applies to much of the "cool stuff" on the web these days; the web is still too geeky. digg's categories are flooded with what a technically inclined demographic would "dig"; just one step removed from slashdot.org.

I fit into some technically inclined demographic, but most people don't. I worry that we're still not building solutions, sites, applications, and tools for the masses. Of course there are the social networking sites of the world, which put simple "profile" pages in the hands of the relatively non-technical (and relatively young demographic; I'm in my early 30s), but still, most people don't, or can't, even use those.

Sometimes I think we're (the technically inclined web using, and building demographic) all in some self fulfilling cycle, and it's all the same demographic kicking up all the same dust over and over again. I subscribe to the belief that in order to move the planet forward, such a demographic does need to exist (Apple Inc, first movers, geeks, etc) in all fields, but I guess I find I don't always fit a specific demographic, and I find myself, as a builder of technology and applications, just wanting to be a user sometimes; and a happy user at that.

Oh great! Another geeky blog posting. I need to get a handle on this. Maybe two separate blogs.

Jud Valeski

Jud Valeski

Parent, photographer, mountain biker, runner, investor, wagyu & sushi eater, and a Boulderite. Full bio here: https://valeski.org/jud-valeski-bio
Boulder, CO