Turns out that I have archived my collection of concert shirts and worn out most of my tie-dyes. So what does that have to do with Deadhead vs Techie. I like that. And that is of course the point. Tech vendors and most B2B vendors realize that people like free stuff and gifting someone is often a good way to get a human's attention.
Free stuff is why being a tech is better than being a deadhead.
Jerry Garcia died in 1995. The internet started to come into it's own shortly thereafter. Coincidence, I think not. I think that the end of the Grateful Dead freed up a lot of talent that was being put to use following the Dead.