Geeks

The wave of technology that has defined the past decade has lead to an increasing gap between civilians and the makers of new technologies. With technologies in the past, troubleshooting occurred over a telephone or a book such as "Windows 7 for Dummies (http://www.dummiesbooks.net/)." Now, we rely on others to fix problems with have with technologies and completely forgo learning how to work our technologies or fix them if broken. Apple company has their Genius Bar, and sells a special package that allows for unlimited meetings with the geniuses. The meeting can address computers, itunes, ipods, iphones, and anything and everything in between. A whole new market has emerged, selling themselves as intermediaries between busy, hard-working Americans who have no time to deal with broken things, and the sneaky little buggers who work in the oh-so-distant and enigmatic production of technology. A particularly interesting company is the Geek Squad, which markets itself very well. The Geek Squad has commercials similar to those for pest control companies, basing their services on rapid responses and complete expertise.

Geek squad cars or "Geek Mobiles" such as the one above are replete in Massachusetts suburbs, and my family has been known to have had a Geek Squad Car or two parked in the drive. Actually, more often than not we have hired people from Geek Housecalls, a similar service to the Geek Squad based exclusively in New England. While Geek Housecalls has not gone out of business, it hardly has the reputation of the Geek Squad. Also, the Geek Squad is run out of Best Buy, one of the biggest destinations for technology, whereas Geek Housecalls operates independently. The Geek Housecalls business has a bit of a cult following in Massachusetts, as it gives off the vibe of being friendly and family-oriented. It's website is very simple compared to that of the Geek Squad. The website can be found at http://geekhousecalls.reachlocal.com/coupon/?scid=669421&cid=484254&tc=10020315521738467&rl_key=1eeda8dd13c0223090491a1ddcfbff3e&kw=5276100&dynamic_proxy=1&primary_serv=geekhousecalls.reachlocal.net&se_refer=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252Fsearch%253Fclient%253Dsafari%2526rls%253Den%2526q%253Dgeek%252Bhousecalls%2526ie%253DUTF-8%2526oe%253DUTF-8. sdf

What's so funny about the whole business is the emphasis it has placed on the word geek. If a "private computer installer, programer, and troubleshooter" came to your house, rather than a Geek from the Geek Squad, you might feel like you'd been ripped off. Having a Geek come to your house is almost an experience in it of itself. Our "Geek," an MIT student who worked through Geek Housecalls, came frequently to the Heher residence of four impatient pre-teens and teens, and when offered, beer, wine, water or another drink, asked for milk. Whether or not he really liked milk or had been told to ask for this my his employers, it caused my Mom to whisper not so inconspicuously to my dad that he seemed so responsible and honest. I'm sure there are some pretty awful lawbreakers and other "bad" people out there who like milk, but in my Mother's eyes asking for milk was like taking a pledge to uphold family as a value above all others. What's also funny is how the Geek Housecalls website operates as a sort of vending machine system. The language on the site makes it seem like there's a person from up above who organizes the Geeks, and dispenses them to customer's house. This body seems to consist of Average Joes, who really understand the plight of dealing with technology problems. They use language such as "Helping you with computer stuff. That's our specialty!" The language is simple and easy to understand, nothing like the computer language people imagine MIT grads and Geek Squaders would use.

The Geek Squads own website is extremely fancy, and functions as a well oiled machine. They put a lot of emphasis on the availability of Geeks, and there's an online support module that shows a picture, reminiscent of a logo from an AOL instant messenger user, and a connect now button. Apparently, Cory W. is online right now, has received five stars, and is ready to help me with whatever computer problem I have. The site also has downloadable videos showing technological support, and an entire page devoted to "gaming." In this day and age video games have become so important that apparently it's worth it to pay someone to fix a glitch in a video game system. The Geeks have covered all the technological bases, while maintaining a very sharp and specific image. They refer to themselves as "agents," who work out of "precincts" at Best Buy. They have special titles such as on-site Double Agents and Deputies of Counter Intelligence. They wear short sleeve button downs and clip on, modern, thin ties and police style badges. Geek Squad workers who install home theaters wear shirts that look something like that of a stereotypical repair man. This dual image makes the Geek Squad seem like a luxury, something that is a modern commodity in Suburbia, yet places emphasis on the connection with the working class. They've extended their demographic from the wealthy CEO types who need help setting up home theaters or fancy computer systems and also appeal to those of us who might not have time to deal with technology. The "Housecalls" aspect conjures images (at least in my mind) of doctors and midwives visiting sick patients at their homes in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. I have this probably historically inaccurate image of friendly, helpful doctors rushing to the bedsides of fatally ill-patients, leaches and useless herbal remedies in hand. The Geeks seem to operate as a similar body, always at the ready to help. My family has grown quite attached to Mike from Geek Housecalls, and even after he left the company and worked independently, we still hired him to help out with the many computers in our household. He is a genuinely nice guy who works hard and never charges for overtime work, and when he moved last year to be married in Alabama, he left us with his new email address in case we had any questions that could be answered from afar. The image of him arriving in his Geek car, with a lanyard filled with flash drives on his belt and a big gym bag filled with computer bits and pieces, will always stick in my mind, but now I primarily recall his genuineness.

Even though companies such as the Geek Squad are using advertising to track us down and target us, like all the other products out there, I will always think highly of them. Maybe they only hire wholesome milk lovers like Mike, in order to maintain a friendly family-oriented image, but I've really been helped by Mike. I could have spent time perusing a Computers for Dummies book, but it would have taken me four days to learn how to turn on the Mac I got last year. It took Mike 20 minutes to register it, install Word, and transfer over all my itunes files. I now have a fancy "Virtual Machine" which allows me to view my old pc's hardrive on my Mac. When I open the program all I see is the old desktop of my HP and I have access to all my old files. The Geek Squad company is another fascinating extension of the media, and I wonder what relationship these style companies have to media companies or computer companies. Do CBS, NBC, FOX or CNN have any kind of relationship to these companies. Even though these networks don't sell technological products, they sell images, and the sale and troubleshooting of fancy televisions relates to their business. With all the connections the media world has, it seems impossible that the Geek Squad doesn't receive funding or some kind of influence from the media gods up above. I tried to do some digging and find out what networks or cable channels the Geek Squad Commercials air on, but I couldn't find much information. Also, the Geek Squad was started in 1994, a time when ipods didn't even exist. How has the Geek Squad changed over time? How have the demographics they target shifted, and how has the way they market themselves changed? Now that "Geeks," are cool and in-style, has further emphasis been placed on the word. Could we even go as far to say that Geek carries a brand now? Geeksquad?

Above is one of the first Geek Squad commercials, and below is one released three months later (March compared to June). What has changed about the advertisements? In the first one the cars were being parachuted in, but in the second the Geeks used jet-packs. What does this say about our ideas of technology now?

This is a recent commercial. What does this say about technology and family values?