So, I'm currently writing a piece about the future of IT skills - perceptions, change, the end of the world; that sort of thing.

Working in IT - or even IT journalism - can be a hard sell. IT is hardly a 'dinner party job'. Conversations with strangers tend to follow a familiar line:

Stranger: And what job do you do?
  Me: I'm a journalist.
  Stranger: How interesting. Who do you write for? The Times, The Sun?
  Me: I'm a technology journalist. I write for a business newspaper called Computing.
  Stranger: (Barely concealing their complete and utter disdain) Oh.
[Embarrassed pause, followed by nothing. Stranger talks to someone else. Anyone else.]

The Guardian's Charlie Brooker recently wrote a spirited defence of the games industry and Grand Theft Auto IV, more specifically. Brooker refers back to his time as a games journalist and how his increasing interest in the technical nature of the product saw the world perceive him as a nerd, or in his words "a tedious loser":

"Society decrees anyone who knows anything whatsoever about computers to be a boring idiot, while those possessing a similar level of nerd-knowledge of football or cinema or food are well-informed and sophisticated and sexually attractive and cool."

Now that is the truth. Strangely, nerd-like perceptions are even prevalent within the IT industry. Many years ago, I attended a focus group session where IT managers compared their feelings on the major technology publications. One guy said of Computing:

"Yeah, it's like you have to read Computing because you know it's weighty and important. But when I read my copy of Computing on the train, I hide it inside IT Week."

I was lost for words at that point. Though I did laugh. Quite a lot.

Further reading

• Red is probably not the key to technology success
• IT skills crisis not solved via death by powerpoint
• Soho celebrity spots 2: From Sykes to Littlewood...
• Soho celebrity spots: From Oddie to Mortimer...
• Second city Blues

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Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels