The World Wide Web and related information technologies have revolutionized culture in monumental ways. Those who did not grow up or at least adapt to the rise of personal computing and the Internet are living in a different century than those who have been fortunate enough to be born during the last 30 years.
The amount of information required to successfully negotiate the suburban American lifestyle has increased so much in those 30 years that it has significantly widened the gap between generations. The key features of the World Wide Web are its most basic functions, free access to unlimited information and instantaneous communication. Our views are becoming less and less shaped by mass media due to increasing audience fragmentation and niche marketing.
The newest generations are active consumers of information as opposed to passive television audiences of previous decades. With the rise of the information age and the global economy, change is happening at an accelerated pace. If you are not equipped with the tools to navigate the new economic and cultural landscape you are at a serious disadvantage. We are no longer only competing for jobs regionally but increasingly on a global scale. The playing field is requiring people who are familiar with its technological roots and the importance of its communication potential.
Neither of my parents attended college, and they simply have no basic understanding of the world I have grown up and experienced. Even if they had they would still be behind the times due to accelerating change. Instantaneous global communication is the driving force behind this change. The question I pose is if our parents are 20 years behind, how many years behind are their parents?
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2 comments:
Read this http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/051508-thumb-generation.html?page=1
The obvious answer to your rhetorical submission is yes, the gap is widening. I, however, would argue that there is no generation gap anymore. There is a choice. Whether it be a 70 year old woman with a new dell laptop, or a tec-savvy fourteen year old startup whiz, each individual makes the choice to connect , understand, and manipulate this new realm on some level, and it is that very information outgrowth that housed such a situation.
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