Technology Generation Gap
SACRAMENTO, CA - My daughter just turned 10. It now takes two whole hands to show her age! And, lately, I’ve been amazed at what those hands can do on our piano—and our computer. If you’re like me and have kids home 24/7 now because of summer vacation, you may be tempted to plant them in front of the computer to overcome whines of boredom.
I’m amazed at her recent view that email is "snail mail" now that she’s discovered instant messaging with her cousins and a few neighborhood friends. Her puzzled look as I explained what "snail mail" really is said it all: Her generation’s ability to see technology not simply as productivity tools but as enabling social interactions is far different from those of us who still received a Smith-Corona typewriter at our high school graduation. While the phone and email remain an essential part of daily interactions, it’s clear that texting/instant messaging is replacing the need for many telephone conversations or email exchanges.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans using the Internet connect to the internet using high-speed broadband connections. We have four email accounts at our home, but no family web page. My Daughter now wants her own web site address and a second email. As a compromise, she’s agreed to help us create a family web site, so we searched the web for information. One article noted that we are quickly gobbling up available internet addresses. When the internet came into existence some 20 years ago, programmers made room for four billion addresses (16-bit numbers). Now a new internet protocol called IPv6 has been developed that will create 340,282,366,920,938,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000 unique web addresses (let’s see if I can get this right...that translates to 340 undecillion, 282 decillion, 366 nonillion, 920 octillion, 938 septillion.). Ah, a veritable Milky Way of address availability...which makes it kinda hard for a Dad to say no to the creation of a couple of more web destinations.
The benefits of social and economic interactions on the internet will become increasingly apparent in the years ahead, as my daughter’s generation, paired with powerful networks, killer applications, and innovative consumer devices, come of age.
(Written August 3rd)
Posted by Jim Cunneen at 06:38PM PST
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