Depends who is asking. I have discovered that in many social situations, people don't really want an elaboration or know details. It's a "friendly" question and they want to try to relate. Perhaps with a followup like "my friend works on computers", "like apps on the iPhone?", or "oh, wow, I never got into all that tech stuff."

If they're actually interested and want to hear more, they'll follow up more detailed questions.

I'm pretty sure it's the same for anyone with specialised/deep skills.