"I have nothing against hipsters, really, truly... but I'll be goddamned if they get their macchiato-holding paws on my precious keyboards."
Things can feel less special I suppose when too many people know about them, but hipsters aren't mainstream or the majority of people. Using film cameras didn't suddenly become unfun to use because of Lomography.com (quite the opposite).
What would happen if there was suddenly a large demand for customized keyboards? Would the demand increase our options and availability with the market? Or would it just get flooded with low-quality stuff as their standards would be lower.
Why do you assume the standards would be lower? Typically they're the ones in the market for good quality products, especially of the limited variety, hard to find, or vintage. Gamers are more of that market than hipsters.
It wouldn't necessarily, but that's what happened with 'fixies'. The prices also went up significantly while the overall quality went down.
Is 'urbanites' the new word for 'townie'??
No. �Townie� refers specifically to young (as in, 15�25ish years old) local residents in university towns, who had/have a mutually antagonistic relationship with students. �Urbanites� just generically means �people who live in the city�. (Also, �urbanites� is a stupendously stupid word.)
As a kid of the midlands (YES MATE) anyone from a town or city is generally considered a townie, be they young or old... anti student or a student themselves... and yes 'urbanites' is the dumbest sounding **** I've come across... especially from people condemning 'hipsters' lol
You act like I made it up. In Canada, nobody ever uses the term "townie", whereas "urbanite" is pretty common. I didn't make it up myself, but you understood it regardless. Not everyone uses the same terminology as the midlands.
I was talking with some people about hipsters
Note, when you lead off any conversation with this line, that probably means you’re a “hipster”. “Young, mainstream, urbanites, of a particular brand”† is not nearly as close a predictor for who can be classified as “hipster” in my experience as “people who talk about hipsters”.
I’m sure you’ve figured out from the other responses here that the majority of geekhack is hipsters already. I think you are using the wrong word for the concept you’re describing. The word you’re looking for is poseurs, not hipsters. I know the way language works, we tend to take words which originally have some specific denotative meaning, and because we have strong feelings about some group or concept associated to that word, we then morph the word usage into a purely generic “thing I don’t like” connotative use. There’s even a term for this, pejoration (Steven Pinker calls it the “euphemism treadmill”). But resist the urge, Altis. It cheapens and degrades the language, and takes useful words away from us without usefully replacing them.
† I know old hipsters, countercultural hipsters, suburban hipsters, poor hipsters, etc. Likewise, I know many young, mainstream urbanites with various values and styles who are most certainly not hipsters. And what’s a “particular brand”? Does that just mean “has a personal style”?
It came up as there were two people using typewriters at Bridgehead (coffee) near U of O campus. Discussing something you witness doesn't suddenly make you fall within the definition of it.
Hipsters, in Canada anyways, refers to people who are super trendy and fashionable but are effectively 'poseurs' in their temporary hobbies. For instance, my sister bought a vintage Minolta film camera because it looked hip and trendy... she took two rolls of shots that were all completely black (underexposed) and hasn't touched it since. It was simply the fashion that made her get it, not an interest in it. That's what people, around Ottawa anyways, refer to as "hipsters". They differ greatly from enthusiasts of vintage or unique hobbies. It's more about being seen doing/using something rather than the experience. Hence, our hipsters at Bridgehead (because Starbucks is mainstream) using loud typewriters; it's about being out making a statement.
We are keyboard hipsters :/
I'm not sure there is such a thing since keyboards are not even remotely trendy or fashionable, even within geek/computer communities. As far as hobbies go, it's as isolated as it gets, making it an enthusiast thing.
I'm pretty doubtful that anyone is into computer keyboards as a hobby for their image rather than genuine interest.
