Is the Computer Generation Bridging the Generation Gap?

[incrediBILL]

How does the internet impact how you embrace change vs. how your parents or grandparents generation faced change?

Does growing up as part of the first wave of the "Computer Generation" spawned in the 80's have any impact on bridging the generation gap?

My wife and I are used to change, we both had computers ahead of the crowd, operated and used BBS's and Fidonet ahead of the web, used ATMs before the masses, owned cell phones in the early 90s when even my other computer co-workers were scoffing at them, so on and so forth.

Does embracing rapid change alter how we interact with the younger generation?

The modern medium of the internet keeps us all abreast of what's new, what's hot, what's trending in more ways than ever possible before short of a subscription to a teen magazine which would be kinda creepy.

For instance, I find myself keeping abreast of and listening to groups like Flo Rida, Neyo, Kanye West and others, keeping more in tune with my 20 something daughters generation, more so than my parents did with my generation.

Perhaps the internet makes us feel like we're all participating with the evolution of society instead of sitting on the fringe shaking a disparaging finger at that "noise" the youngsters are listening to, how they dress, etc.

What do you think, are you bridging the gap or embracing your inner fuddy duddy?

[edited by: incrediBILL at 9:28 pm (utc) on June 15, 2009]

[LifeinAsia]

Now we just shake a disparaging finger at that "digital noise" the youngsters are listening to... :)

I'd say it's a combination of both. My inner fuddy duddy wonders why these kids spend so much time texting each other instead of just talking to them. (Yet I often, and still do, spend a lot of time e-mailing instead of picking up the phone.)

I "grew up" (i.e., high school & college) as home PCs were just starting to catch on. So I was in that transitional group of trying to find new ways to use the PC- in between the generation that didn't want to do things differently just to use a computer and those who grew up only knowing how to do things on the computer.

My mom still uses an adding machine with a paper tape to "run a list of numbers" (she's a tax preparer). I prefer to enter the numbers into Excel. That's the way she's used to doing things. But I mis-type a lot, so it's easier for me to go back and edit cells instead of re-entering all the numbers again. (Plus I am more green. :) ) But I'm sure today's kids can enter the numbers more quickly and accurately on their cell phones.

[incrediBILL]

My mom still uses an adding machine with a paper tape to "run a list of numbers" (she's a tax preparer).

Funny you mention that because my mom, now in her 70s, was a bookkeeper and did tax preparations as a sideline and she eventually embraced the computer to speed up that process.

She emails like crazy but doesn't do IM, go figure, while my 80s father-in-law does email and IM.

Kinda strange how far some will adapt while others go further even at an old age you CAN still teach them new tricks ;)

[Baruch Menachem]

Pretty much you work with the tech you feel comfortable with. My mom learned to type on an underwood, where you had to seriously press the keys down and make sure they went all the way down. She also worked in an office out of college where making six carbon copies was routine. So her keyboard technique was the kind to make keyboard springs go sprong when she tried to use the computer. She found it immensely frustrating to work with computers, where you type lightly, and if you leave the key down too long, the characters repeat. Every time she tired to use my computer all the text would have from four to five character repeats per character.
Of course, on that old underwood, she got 80 WPM, and the best I have done is 40

[piatkow]

I could never have switched from a typewriter to a modern keyboard. Luckily the older ones had a lot more resistance and usually a positive click when pressed.

With regard to adding a column of numbers I could do that far more quickly on an old fashioned electric adding machine.They keyboard is designed to be used with the left hand with the enter key positioned for the thumb leaving the right hand free to hold a pen. The numeric pad on a keyboard is on the wrong side.

[jecasc]

I am 33 and actually I feel a new generation gap already. Around me people only a few years younger use facebook, myspace and other social websites. They spend a lot of time creating an ugly personal homepage on this websites and posting pictures of themselves trying to look as cool and possible but only looking stupid. And they write SMS like crazy. They have their cellphones always within reach.

At the same time they seem to suffer of some kind of communication overload - without noticing. I mean - how can you get any work done if you have 200 people in your Skype contact list and a message pops up every 30 seconds? I use Skype to, but I have only four permant contacts. I always delete my Skype contacts when for example I have finished a project and regular communication is not necessary anymore.

Until a few years ago I used to get exited and embraced every new technology. Now I always ask myself the question if a new technology brings any benifits for my life - and more and more often the answer is simply no.

[piatkow]

I could never get used to my daughter carrying out an IM conversation with her sister while playing a computer game at the same time.

I don't think its specifically about computers but I have more in common with my kids that my parents did with me and that seems to be true for a lot of my friends too. I will be going to a music festival in a couple of months time and the people that I will know there will cover an age range of about 40 years.

[LifeinAsia]

Here's another example: Use Technology to Become a Better Student [webmasterworld.com]
Back in my day, we had to blame faulty floppy drives for corrupting our homework. So the progression goes:
My dog at my homework. -> My disk drive at my homework. -> The Internet ate my homework.