A funny thing happened on the way to a lighthearted jab at a pop-culture stereotype: The IT professionals of America came out of this great nation's server rooms to let me know what they like to drive. This is a good thing.
Popping a sterotype can be messy and a bit of an ego knock, but it's also enlightening and kinda fun to watch preconceptions shatter and reassemble in ways that make perfect sense.
What are the real ten most tech-professional-approved rides?
Welcome to Answers of the Day — our daily Jalopnik feature where we take your best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Photo Credit: Geek Squad
10.) Geek Squad New Beetle
Suggested By: Ravey Mayvey Slurpee's current urge: More TVRs (and still Yvonne Strahovski)
Why it's got tech appeal: Contractors drive pickups. Plumbers drive white vans. Geek Squad staffers drive Beetles painted like giant pandas.
Observation: Many IT professionals do not consider Geek Squad staffers to be IT professionals.
Photo Credit: Mike_tn
9.) Hyundai Sonata Hyundai Sonata
Suggested By: heywood220
Why it's got tech appeal: A popular choice among the number-crunchers. For mainstream wheels, the Sonata's mix of purchase price, fuel mileage, and abacus-like reliability are hard to top.
Photo Credit: Hyundai
8.) Honda Insight
Suggested By: neogenesis2004
Why it's got tech appeal: The Insight normally gets overshadowed by the Prius, so the decided preference for Honda's hybrid between the two is a surprise. Iconoclasm? Honda loyalty? Still a pleasant break from what is — to many — the ur-nerdmobile.
Photo Credit: Honda
7.) Honda S2000
Suggested By: twistedsymphony
Why it's got tech appeal:Misconception: Tech people are too busy and focused to appreciate sports cars. Reality: Tech people like well-engineered products. And going fast.
Photo Credit: tommy.chang
6.) Small pickup trucks
Suggested By: lazy.Lemming
Why it's got tech appeal: IT work isn't just about sitting in front of a screen at three AM slinging code. There's stuff to move, and some of it can be pretty bulky; racks and multiple high-grade towers usually can't be carried on the bus across town. Small pickup trucks like Rangers and Tacomas may be an endangered species, but they're prized here for their utility and nimbleness.
Photo Credit: M.Cerasoli
5.) Infiniti G37 Coupe
Suggested By: acuralegend
Why it's got tech appeal: The G37 is fast, luxurious, and stylish. It's also Japanese instead of Old World. Given that Japan all but invented and distributed the hypertech modern lifestyle wholesale, the fondness many tech pros feel for Japanese products is natural and almost subliminal.
Photo Credit: David Villarreal Fernández
4.) Yamaha R6
Suggested By: clientized
Why it's got tech appeal: After staring at LEDs all day in a climate-controlled bunker, a good number of sysadmins want to leave all of that behind and tap into some very different parts of their brains. Sportbikes in particular are cherished for their ability to clear out the day's clutter.
Photo Credit: kenjonbro
3.) 2001 Honda Civic sedan
Suggested By: Sabastian
Why it's got tech appeal: Cost-benefit analysis writ large for folks who just want to get to work and back and not worry about things. The Japanese own this slot with their mainstream cars; here, it's not so much a sort of fondness for Rising Sun products as the fact that they just work, like a good calculator or basic cellphone.
Photo Credit: The Facey Family
2.) Audi A4
Suggested By: Gamecat235
Why it's got tech appeal: The choice of the civilized sysadmin with a bit of extra cash. The BMW 3-Series is also popular, but the A4's better-integrated tech and lack of stockbroker stigma carries the day.
Photo Credit: Audi
1.) Subaru WRX/STi
Suggested By: veteran011
Why it's got tech appeal: The overwhelming top choice for young IT professionals, and how can we argue? Gloriously fast and fun off the showroom floor, and tweaking the engine's ECU for even more thrust is a rite of passage.
This is a completely one-sided preference in what's usually a fierce contest; the Mitsubishi Evo barely showed here.
Photo Credit: Charles Siritho