I’d argue that Ray Kurzweil is becoming the face of acceleration, Larry and Sergei are the search giants, Gordon Moore is the transistor guy, Aubrey de Grey the longevity beard, Dean Kamen the gadgetry guru, Nick Bostrom the simulation speculist, Craig Ventner the father of artificial life, etc. But I do agree that the general
level of nerdoriety will be taken up a few notches in the very near future. Helping this along will be acceleration (which will allow more radical breakthroughs faster), the web (which will identify value and drama at a faster rate), perhaps new hybrid gaming/research/work structures that make complex tasks more relatable and readily dramatic, etc. At the same time, there will be an increase in rising stars developing pertinent expertise and moving their fields forward, particularly the young who will be hooked in in new ways.

Great point about media trying people out. I expect the more diffusable stories about technical innovation get, the more churn there will be.