Is there a nerd in the house?

We've always gone to the medical professional on the periphery of the social circle for advice; similarly, the dude who knows about cars. And if you're fainting on the train or there's smoke pouring from your engine-thing, it's good to know that such professionals are wandering the streets. It's always been like this: we've all got bodies, but only a few people know how they work. It used to be like this: a few of us have sophisticated technology, and we have it because we understand it. So if the advancement of technology puts more and more devices in the hands of a public that barely knows how to operate them, let alone troubleshoot or service them, nerds slowly join the inner circle of civilians who may be drafted by the masses to fix the printer/computer/Internet.

But the nerd's new value is unique in its rise to prominence: we created a demand for ourselves. We knew how to build a product that you can almost use, but that only we can fix. We never meant to sell you back your independence. The consumer is an afterthought in the production of consumer electronics. And best of all, as these devices become as vital to your livelihood as your body, we join the ranks of doctors. Most of us have no formal training.

Is this an overt example of capitalist greed and intellectual elitism? Or is it an earnest belief in technological progress, at the cost of leaving behind some of the people? We love our tools, appreciate the power they give us, the power we are capable of giving ourselves. But we must at the same time accept the privilege and the complications that go along with our skills. Do we continue to build inaccessible products because we believe they are the best, most useful, or do we build them to preserve status for ourselves? Do we want to become the new medicine men and women, or did it just happen that way?

Disclaimer: I include myself in this "we" as if I can fix or build anything. I can't, though I'm not helpless. I just thought it carried more rhetorical weight that way.