Over the holidays, I looked around the living room and saw eight adults over 55 sending text messages, having video conversations with loved ones in other cities, and showing each other the new apps they use.
In our living rooms, at the office, in our classrooms, in our cars, and in our pockets, innovation in software has radically changed the world we know. With this has come a shift in what society celebrates and what we value in the technology world. “Geek” is definitely the new cool.
Do you know what is cool?
Consider that across the world, founders like Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Kevin Systrom grace magazine covers and television programs as we celebrate their meteoric wealth creation and unique command of the PR machine.
At the employee level, a growing percentage of Silicon Valley engineers are exploiting a red-hot labor market by jumping startup to startup or cashing in on comfortable jobs in large companies that are overpaying to retain workers. Far too many of them are happy to be peddled by recruiters who exacerbate their god-state with terms like “rock stars”, “unicorns,” and “ninjas”. Just as astounding, some are even willing to be auctioned off.