Adopting the social position of mechanics

Pc-builders unite. We're mechanics for our time, people look at us in wonder as we dig through the inwards of a computer. On the internet, and when we meet other builders, we can chatter happily away in an acronym soup. And we sort of expect the world to know the basic basic. Like recognizing a hard-drive -You mean the big beige box on the floor right? Nooooo....
Or, You can't install x1900 'cause it's only PCI express and you have AGP.
A what with a what?
You got the wrong plug dude. The old-fashioned one.
How often do they change these things?
Oh, every couple a years or so...

And then there's the intermediate layer -the somewhat skilled user who is also able to recognize the parts and replace them, most of these though, don't understand the protocols or the spec fully.

But this RAM is much faster than the old one right?
Well... it *has* higher clock rate, but the CAS latency is so much higher that... you're actually running slower... You see, the problem with DDR2 is...

And then the old megahurts thing... About as useful to evaluate a chip with as a slice of bread, and choosing a chip is getting messy...

And all this, is somewhat magical, like cars. Most people can't repair their own car if it breaks, and not just for lack of tools, nor can they upgrade it or build one from scratch.

But while we before were seen as weird, we're now getting the social status of car mechanics, namely -professional. And people air their ideas with a somewhat restrained attitude, knowing they can complain about price or performance but not really understand how any are achieved, and so must defer to your opinion, and in a sense -already has before you state it.

funny

b