You really know you're a techno-geezer when...

Now, the OP wasn't very

Now, the OP wasn't very offensive about this, but several commentors have been.
As other have mentioned, EVERYONE rode the backs of someone else. And yes, I don't know everything about computers - but that's because I don't need to. I learn the new programs and the cutting-edge ones, and i learn the older stuff that is essential for comprehension of the newer stuff. I guaruntee all of you "geezers" did the same.
A lot of people have also commented that this generation "loses this and this and blah blah blah" because of our "overuse" of technology. Again, same as when you were kids - you have to sacrifice something. And, frankly, I'd rather spend my time on a cell phone with my family or my best friends - all of whom live far away from my college - than have an extra 30 minutes each day to hang out with people face-to-face.
So, go ahead and tell us how we're losing out on "real interaction" or whatever - but all your knowledge of microprocessors doesn't change the fact that you're just another flatscan now.

For a guy who runs a

For a guy who runs a dedicated Linux site under Mepisguides.com and writes for a video game related sites in Gamenikki.com, I find myself surprisingly in tune with the geezer side of the equation. Yes, I have a Cell Phone, but I only use probably 100 minutes a month. I don't even carry it with me most of the time. And when I do have it, it's normally off. I have logins with AIM, YIM, MSN, and Jabber... but the last time I turned GAIM on and sat was several months ago. I have a Skype account... I've never used it. When I join IRC channels, I just lurk... and actually don't talk very much. In several ways, it is surreal since I am supposed to be this "guru" of technology and games. Yet instead of running my own shop for profit, I work nationalized Tech Support for the primary supplier of New Orleans Cable TV. Maybe it's because of the number of dolts out there with mass communications access that turns me off to being more connected... In any case, I have news for those who are with "it." They aren't :)

Consumerism and

Consumerism and Lusers

People with the iPods, the latest cell phone w/ cameras, Xmas lights and "cool ringtones", IMing/Text Messaging, etc aren't really technophiles. They are just naive users of the latest consumer gadgets being shoved down by the Big Corp whose only goal is profit. These Lusers care more abut the flashy LED lights, the color cover plate, the "cool" ringtone than what the phone can actually do. And they're locked into various plans providing maximum profit for the Telco companies and don't have a clue. e.g. taking pictures with their phone and then sending through the carrier for a fee, or why can't you keep the same phone when switching to a different carrier. (Yes. My phone is "unlocked")

Anyway, I do notice the younger generation tend to be very shallow about everything. Few can concentrate for more than 5 minutes except when watching TV. To have deep understanding about anything requires effort and long term concentration which the younger generations, with all their pointless distractions, have none.

And I'm pretty tired of fixing their PC problems, and now camera, wireless. Can't even talk them through on the phone as most of the time they don't even know what they bought. It's on "sale" Gotta have it.
My latest call from the nieces was:
got 801.11b cards for the PC
but 801.11g AP.

Dude! ur not a geezer. ur a

Dude!
ur not a geezer.
ur a geek!

U just think of urself as a geezer 'cause ur older!

If u know how tech works, and u can fix it, then ur a geek!
u r however smarter than a lot of ppl, at least thats how it sounds. I am in my +20s and I am used to make my calls short and to the point, but I remember the charges and allow myself to make longer calls if the price is right.

I remember those prices being high, and not having tech as a crutch. What you mentioned about kids not speaking face to face is true and ever more.

I remember my mother telling me that they did there homework together in a cofee shop somewhere, and going there all the time. My generation barely goes to cofee shops to talk, and instead we go to see each others houses to play games with each other.

I don't believe I'm a geezer, but I am a geek! And proud of it!

I totally agree with The

I totally agree with The Paradox's comment. I'll be turning 23 shortly, and I'm working on a next generation web application for a large company, which means I work with technologies like AJAX and IoC containers on a regular basis. Do any of you "geezers" even know what these acronyms mean? Do you even care? If if not, why should and of the younger generations know or care about the intricate details of the technolgies you used.
For any given technology there exists a small core of people that understand the intricate details of that technology, and can therefore maintain and update that technology until it reaches the point where it's surpased by a newer technology. For most people, haveing a passing knowledge of how something works (perhaps the general theory behind it) is sufficient, because they merely have to use that technology, not repair it. Furthermore, the age of the people useing and maintaining these technologies is less a factor of the age of the technology as it is a factor of the level of obsolesence of that technology. When a technology is first introduced, the ones using and maintaining that technology tend to be younger, but as the technology develops, the ages of the people tend to distribute more evenly. As a technology nears the end of its usefullness and is about to be surpased by a newer technology, the people maintaining it (and to a lesser extent using it) tend to be older (because the younger generation is working on the newer technology).
Well, that rant was longer than I had intended, but I think it gets the major points across. As a final thought, go check out maps.google.com, and then ask yourself "do I know how this technology works?".

It's not just the younger

It's not just the younger generation, everybody has gaps in their knowledge. I knew one (mid-30s) C programmer with a few years of experience who asked "what would you need those bit operators for anyway?" which surprised me, having used them to interface with hardware, or save a few bytes/cycles for efficiency sake. Now, you don't need them, because there is memory/cpu to spare, and every piece of hardware has nice APIs

As an immature geezer geek

As an immature geezer geek who may never really grow up, all I can say when I see young'uns with new tech is:

I want one. Now.

=D

I don't know about the rest

I don't know about the rest of you, but I haven't adopted the newest trends because I have no use for them and feel no need to be trendy, not because I'm out of touch or afraid to. I presently have active accounts on Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, AIM, MSN, and GTalk...and they get used once or twice a month. Most of these self-proclaimed high-tech kids don't even know what ICQ or GTalk are. Many of them aren't even aware that Yahoo has an IM client.

Had a kid ask me the other day: "Do you like MSN or AIM better?" I responded with "I prefer Yahoo over either of those, and ICQ and GTalk are both far superior to Yahoo." He looked completely lost.

Consider that the internet only became commonplace ten years ago. Now look at how pervasive it is. The same can be said for IM...I remember watching IRC give way to ICQ and AIM in the late 1990s. Cell phones were a novelty, then an annoyance, now a near-necessity...in less than twenty years.

I don't use IM that often these days because my friends don't. I don't bother with making friends online because I have plenty in real life. I regularly trade text messages on my cell phone because it's often more convenient than making a call.

Before we go thinking our generation is so much better than the next, think about how many baby boomers always complained that they couldn't program their VCRs, yet they're the generation who gave us most of the technology we use today.

I will say this: I think people around my age (27) are very fortunate: we watched the internet go from a novelty to one of the greatest tools ever made in five short years, and it happened when we were young enough to adapt to it but old enough to remember life without it.

Now that I've proclaimed my geekness, I should point out that I can build a house as well as I can a computer and spend more free time outdoors than I do at my desk.

The percentage of those who

The percentage of those who understand technology has not changed significantly. The differance is that technology is much more specialized. Sure it's all fundamentally based on the same concepts (digital logic, capacitance, R/F modulation etc) but that won't help you repair it.

The reason a lot of us are so annoyed by the (and I do love this word) "noobs" is that understanding technology used to be a pre-requisite to using it. We didn't have people to run to when our stuff broke. We burned our own damn EEPROMs. Now any college frat-boy can read slashdot, post in forums and pollute our existance.

Laziness is a cultural phenomenon. I've been called a slacker my share of times, hell sometimes it's even true. The people who design the technology are no help. They are so narrowly focused by a system that teaches more and more about less and less, until they know absolute everything about almost nothing.

The day of the techo-generalist is gone. God help us if something important breaks.

Before there were

Before there were telephones, I'm sure teens had some way to communicate constantly. Parents in my generation found themselves forced to buy multiple phone lines to have one for adult use. Now the mode has changed to IM, but the basic communication needs of the young haven't really changed. Is it insecurity or what? that requires constant networking to cultivate a feeling of belonging?