The Dumbest Generation Three Peat

"Born between roughly 1980 and 1994, the Millennials have already ben pegged and defined by academics, trend spotters, and futurist: They are smart but impatient. They expect results immediately. They carry an arsenal of electronic devices - the more portable the better. Raised amid a barrage of information, they are able to juggle a conversation on Instant Messenger, a Web-surfing session, and an iTunes playlist while reading Twelfth Night for homework." This quote came from the third chapter entitled "Screen Time". This statement amazes me because it is entirely true. The way we were raised, we have everything we need within seconds. If we need an answer Google will give it to us within one second of hitting search. Now they even give it to you before you even finish spelling out the word in the search box. This extremely short wait time has made us very impatient though. For example, if my computer takes more than five seconds to load a page or an email I go nuts and can't belive the internet is acting up so bad. Then I sit back and think about how regular mail takes about three days to get to you and how my parents had to either pick up a landline or wait till the next day at school to talk with their friends. I am currently listening to my iTunes, browsing Facebook, and writing this blog post. All of this is going on with the TV on behind me. Not until I started reading this book did I realize how much technology is in my life, and not only that, but how much I've mastered it. It has been a joke in my house that I have been the family IT guy since third grade, but it's true. Since then I was able to take apart our computer, figure out what was wrong, and fix it. All this was done without any training or experience at all. Since I grew up with all this around it was all natural. All I have to do is press a bunch of buttons in the right order or plug one thing in and everything works exactly how I want it to. Me being able to do this just makes me think of people younger than me. I didn't have a computer until about first or second grade. I have three little cousins who are two years old and another who is six. Even now they are playing on computers and with gameboys. In a few years they will probably know more about computers and technology than I do. The pace at which we are moving is crazy and I havn't even thought about it until now.