I think people are missing the whole context of BOFH.
In the '90s there was no prestige in working in IT maybe as a developer but not as a Sysadmin.
Sysadmin and Support (the guy who fixes your e-mail or set up Netscape) usually were the same guy.
The prestige positions were in Marketing, Law and executive/finance.
The assistant on HR?Finance? They usually earned more than the Sysadmin.
People used to tell me:
"People who work on computers will never grow in the company. They stay there working and nobody notices them then. If you want to grow and climb de ladder go to Finance or Marketing."
So then who were the people who worked on computers?
The ones that really liked it and the ones socially inept. Sometimes Both. It was the "misfits" people dept. Data Centers? Basement or an ugly off-site. Location of Dept? The worst possible.
(Check the IT CROWD series).
But it was very rare someone that Did not like computers and did not have a hacker mentality to work on the field. Because of low pay and prestige.
Then BOFH represents the "Dr. Evil" that makes all right. Punishes the people that earn 2-3x times more and still can't do anything in IT.
It is dark humor like "Nick burns, your computer guy" from SNL.
The big difference is the people who started at 00 and later got a Very different market and with other people went after looking for prestige.
Take Bezos, Gates, Stallman, Linus and any other big tech guy before 00. They were "NERDS". Nerds only became cool after bringing billions to the table.
What a young, socially inept, smart guy and nerd will do in his 20's?
1) Have a lot of girlfriends? Party like crazy?
2) Fail miserably in #1 and code?
I remember on dates saying that I work with "IT" and the face of frustration in my dates.
One of my date father saying to her "He will not be able to support you... If he was a Lawyer yes.."
There was no "diversity" need because the requiremnt was: be smart and crazy to work in IT.
Last comment:
Once in a HR meeting they asked what traits they need to fill an position without thinking too much I said:
1. Low self-esteem;
2. Smart;
3. Desesperate.
My coworker was there agreeing.
The HR said that we can't put it. So we change the words a little.
I agree with you about IT careers. Back in the late 80s when I was starting college, it was exactly the way you describe. It is really interesting how things changed in the late 90's regarding this. I remember it falling back for a while after the dot com boom, only to pick back up in late 2000. A lot of people really don't realize that the prestige that comes from IT is only a recent thing, I think because having grown up around it, it's all that they know.
In the '90s there was no prestige in working in IT maybe as a developer but not as a Sysadmin.
Sysadmin and Support (the guy who fixes your e-mail or set up Netscape) usually were the same guy.
The prestige positions were in Marketing, Law and executive/finance.
The assistant on HR?Finance? They usually earned more than the Sysadmin.
People used to tell me:
"People who work on computers will never grow in the company. They stay there working and nobody notices them then. If you want to grow and climb de ladder go to Finance or Marketing."
So then who were the people who worked on computers?
The ones that really liked it and the ones socially inept. Sometimes Both. It was the "misfits" people dept. Data Centers? Basement or an ugly off-site. Location of Dept? The worst possible.
(Check the IT CROWD series).
But it was very rare someone that Did not like computers and did not have a hacker mentality to work on the field. Because of low pay and prestige.
Then BOFH represents the "Dr. Evil" that makes all right. Punishes the people that earn 2-3x times more and still can't do anything in IT. It is dark humor like "Nick burns, your computer guy" from SNL.
The big difference is the people who started at 00 and later got a Very different market and with other people went after looking for prestige.
Take Bezos, Gates, Stallman, Linus and any other big tech guy before 00. They were "NERDS". Nerds only became cool after bringing billions to the table.
What a young, socially inept, smart guy and nerd will do in his 20's?
1) Have a lot of girlfriends? Party like crazy?
2) Fail miserably in #1 and code?
I remember on dates saying that I work with "IT" and the face of frustration in my dates.
One of my date father saying to her "He will not be able to support you... If he was a Lawyer yes.."
There was no "diversity" need because the requiremnt was: be smart and crazy to work in IT.
Last comment:
Once in a HR meeting they asked what traits they need to fill an position without thinking too much I said:
1. Low self-esteem;
2. Smart;
3. Desesperate.
My coworker was there agreeing. The HR said that we can't put it. So we change the words a little.