Don Tennant states that computer professionals don't hug walls, they break them down. Again, that doesn't mean that they aren't introverted. It does mean that they sought out a profession where they regularly deal with the binary logic of a computer.

Tennant also states that he is attracted to the dynamism and sheer magnetism of the people in the IT community. As journalists, we often deal with the people who are authorized to talk to us. Large companies have policies to prevent random employees from talking to journalists, and they put people in front of the media who are most likely to give a positive impression of the company. Journalists don't usually get to talk to the millions of computer scientists behind the scenes. That's not to say there aren't dynamic and magnetic individuals in that population [and every tech journalist knows that it's more fun to talk to the hands-on geeks -- Ira's editor], but the behavioral skill set that makes for a good spokesperson aren't always coexistent with those that make for a good computer scientist.

Frankly, Tennant's comments and the premise of his editorial are insulting to introverts. There's nothing wrong with being an introvert, just as there's nothing wrong with being a woman. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and we must appreciate the strengths that come with being an introvert. (Or a woman.) Again, I don't believe that we would have the breakthroughs that we have had in the computer profession without introverts. I am not an introvert (nor a woman), but while people who are can sometimes drive me crazy with their idiosyncrasies [back at ya, pal -- Ira's introverted lady editor], I appreciate them for who they are.

In the computer profession, we have learned that we need to promote a dual career path -- managerial and technical -- to grow individuals. For example, an outstanding programmer doesn't necessarily make an outstanding manager of programmers. (As a matter of fact, it's almost unheard of.) Publications such as Computerworld could show the diverse jobs within the computer profession to attract different types of people -- both introverts and extroverts -- to different jobs within the profession.

This is also a relevant issue when it comes to security. For example, people designing security controls need to realize that they might not be well accepted. Introverts need to acknowledge that not everyone behaves logically; complaining about the end "lusers" may help blow off steam, but it doesn't excuse security professionals from trying to understand how other people are likely to interact with security controls.