Interview with the inventors of the Nerd Dreams calendar

Ladies and gentlemen ;) It has often been assumed that the Nerd Dreams calendar was an invention of getDigital. Of course, this is not true - we were neither involved in the creation of the idea nor in its implementation - we merely distributed it. That's why we now think it makes more than sense to let the true authors of this controversial work have their say, of whom we have heard so little so far. I have therefore written to Roman and Jan from Nerd Dreams and I'm sure you'll find their answers interesting to read: Hello Roman, Hello Jan! As you will hardly have missed, your Nerd Dreams calendar has caused quite a stir. Did you anticipate that this might happen?

Furore. You could say that! But fortunately it was overwhelmingly positive and we sold the 2013 Nerd Dreams calendar as far away as Australia. We didn't get rich with it, by the way, and that wasn't the intention. We are happy about the many supporters who encourage us to continue on your blog. We also understand that not everyone likes the calendar. But hey: it's just a Nerd Dreams calendar, not Rainer Brüderle!

Apart from the models, as many women have worked on our calendar and advised us as men. Together with these women, we have created a really cool project privately and that is much more creative than participating in a shitstorm. Imagine if there were no women on the internet - that would be a really sad situation and we think women in IT and blogs like yours and geeksisters are really great!

What was your intention in making such a calendar in the first place?

Nerds are different. The way nerds are sometimes treated in this society can be seen from Thursday on ProSieben on Beauty & The Nerd. (The fact that they also make chess players look bad has personally given me the rest #outcry!). Most people seem to think that the internet, smartphones, consoles and tablets just fall from the sky. But it's the quiet, creative and brave ones who make it possible! We made the calendar because our society needs more clever and modern nerds AND nerdy people! The Nerd Dreams calendar is therefore reminiscent of a time when computers for private use were something completely new. Just think of the Commodore C64, the Atari ST, the first with a MIDI interface for making music. Or the NextCube developed by Steve Jobs, with which Tim Berners-Lee programmed the first server and browser and the Apple Newton, the first tablet and so on and so forth.

What is your general attitude to the #outcry? Do you think that feminism still has a place and is important in today's world or do you think it's an anachronism?

In this context, I would like to quote Bascha Mika, the former head of TAZ. She said recently: "It's not about sexism or femminism, but about living well together. It has been scientifically proven that mixed companies work better than pure "men's clubs". Or to put it another way: just how badly men-only clubs can work can be seen in the FDP these days ... Our society is partly sexist, voyeuristic and is only slowly discovering that it also needs nerds. Let's finally change that. And please, without chatterboxes like Rainer Brüderle. When he was Minister of Economic Affairs, he announced an initiative for more start-ups. Nothing came of it!

A frequent point of criticism is that the women in the pictures are not authentic. Why did you use models and not real nerd ladies? Are they not pretty enough?

Every nerd or geeksister who wants to take part in the next Nerd Dreams Calendar 2014 is cordially invited. Some nerds have already signed up and want to take part! The models for 2013 also all have something to do with computers, as you can see from the videos on www.nerd-dreams.com. Sarah Jasmin, who presents the GameBoy and is on the cover, used to beat her mother at Tetris. (Well, she didn't have a magnifying glass or a battery pack back then.) Scarlett, our version of Lara Croft in March, is a total gamer and loves to play WoW. Who would have thought?

Overall, the 2013 Nerd Dreams calendar turned out really well, but it's certainly not perfect. One comic book nerd complained that a funny paperback is upside down on the shelf. Another criticized that we didn't use twisted pair cables for the NextCube. Yet another wanted to see the ZX80 instead of the Sinclair ZX81 (March), but unfortunately it was in the museum.

What is your attitude to the accusation of objectification? It has been said time and again that the women in the pictures are portrayed in a 'reduced' and degrading way. How do you feel about this / how do the women photographed feel about it?

We and our photographer Anna Schnauss discussed with the models exactly how far they wanted to go. And if you look at the pictures, you quickly understand: the models tell the story and the objects are the computers.

What do you think of the product text on our website? Here, too, a frequent criticism was that humor and irony were out of place with such a sensitive topic.

If you can't take a joke, you've come to the wrong place! The Nerd Dreams Calendar 2013 has been a tongue-in-cheek project right from the start. This is also immediately clear from your text.

Would you actually say of yourselves that you are nerds? If so, why, what makes you nerds (or not)?

Difficult question, especially in light of the new ProSieben show Beauty & The Nerd. Actually, nerds are people who are a bit crazy and pay a lot of attention to detail in certain things. That applies to us. But actually, everyone has their own idiosyncrasies. And that's a good thing. There's just no such thing as the typical nerd that everyone talks about. Our view is that everyone is a nerd in their own way.

Are you drawing any conclusions from the criticism? Are you planning to continue the calendar next year? And even more interesting: Are you planning a nerd calendar with men?

We take the criticism on board and want to make a Nerd Dreams Calendar 2014. On the subject of nerd men in the calendar, a counter question: would you start a crowdfunding project with us for this? As guys, we don't have the expertise. If we do it on our own, it certainly won't turn out the way nerd men want it to. But the rest can be organized - we know how to do it now!

How many calendars have you sold and to whom (if you want to say^^)?

There are just under 150 of a limited edition of 1,000 Nerd Dreams calendars 2013 left. Especially before Christmas, a lot of women bought the calendars to give to their nerds at home. Now the rate is back to just under 50 percent.

Thank you for the interview and the comprehensive answers to my questions!