MIT's charm school for geeks turns 20 | Hacker News Reader

MIT's charm school for geeks turns 20

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15 pointsRougeFemme9 comments

From the article: "But how do you take someone who's grown up in the world of pocket protectors..."

Does anyone actually use a pocket protector anymore? That is such a lame cliche to describe geeks. It's like saying "...someone who's grown up in the world of slide rules..."

More accurate would be something like "...the world of algorithms and Maxwell's equations..." or "...the world of integrals and epsilon-delta..."

I know some professional engineers who wear pocket protectors. Not students, though.

I'm wondering where you would actually buy a pocket protector? A quick Google search brings up plenty of ironic tshirts and novelties, but no actual pocket protectors.

(And no, I don't actually want one. I'm just curious.)

Most people didn't buy them in the old days. Typically they were given away as promotional items. They are actually pretty useful beyond their obvious function of keeping your pockets from being destroyed by ink leaks and sharp points. For example, you could switch a set of writing instruments you use everyday from shirt to shirt without having to disassemble and reassemble it. But even the nerdiest these days realize that the only surer way to look like a total social misfit without involving body odors is to break your plastic-rimmed glasses at the bridge and repair them with tape.

Stationery supplies sell them. Baumgartner is one brand.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001ALPJIG/ref=asc_df_B001ALPJIG242...

I use to have an MIT one that I assume came from the COOP, but no idea if they still have them.

Edit: ooh, I just found a leather one on thinkgeek http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/f216/

I was an engineering student at a top 20 university who did something similar to this. Southern school, manners were important. The university put on an etiquette dinner to help engineering students grasp the finer points of dining.

To this day, I reference that one dinner at least once a month.

I would watch that show.

Wish we had something like this at Georgia Tech

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