Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
(After reading "Starstruck" I began asking can geeks/progeeks be celebrities. This was actually a fun speculation, and I wanted to write it up).
So, my progeeks and profanes and protaku, can we working nerds, technophiles, and geekonomists be celebrities? Can we breathe the same air of awesomeness that the truly famous do, can we confuse paparazzi with our "Let the Wookie Win" T-shirts? In short, can we be beloved and admired and followed?
The answer is literally, yes, no, and maybe.
Quick question – which is more professional, the ability to deliver a finely crafted novel in a year or a pulpy throwaway novel in a month?
The right answer? The right answer is not being sure.
What do people want? That's a big question in any business venture or job, and one that is often surprisingly hard to answer. In many cases people just hope people want what they make, or hope to convince them they want it (that's what marketing departments are for).
Right now in the age of DLC, e-comics, and online purchases from stores with gigantic virtual inventories, we've got an incredible opportunity to find out what people want. We'd better be ready, because the meandering-forward economy with its eBooks and virtual stores and fermium games is going to be a giant learning opportunity.