what’s your age in techno-years?
In a recent job interview I was asked, “How long have you been using the Internet?”
My first response was an internal snort: I’m (almost) 23. I’ve been using the Internet for, like, ever. Okay, not like ARPANET forever, but dial-up forever. AOL forever. Pre-Y2k forever. That’s a long time, right?
Well, it could be…if “using the Internet” meant simply logging on without any conception of the net’s greater utility or knowledge of how it works. (Packets!) By those standards, does waiting 4 minutes for AskJeeves* to load even count? Maybe I should be starting from when I first used the net for research or when I began to check my email daily or…
It’s a relationship I haven’t really thought about. Sure, those currently aged 0 to tween actually grew up with the Internet, but today’s 20-something crowd wasn’t so far ahead. Many of us found solace from our post-puberty/high-school trauma in the hum of hulking desktop computers. We remember Facebook when it was just a means of connecting with college friends and when The Wall feature was one big unformatted, HTML text box. If we were privileged enough to start using the net as t(w)eens and to expand and personalize our use in college, then today, you could practically call us The Borg. We are connected, and when we have the resources, we are early adopters. Intuitive users. We may be more likely to share our birthdays with Reagan’s Star Wars than the web servers of Burners-Lee, but like today’s Internet babies, my generation grew up with technology in a way that those over 40 simply…didn’t.
There are too many confounding factors of access and understanding to generalize about the fullest extent of technology use among my peers, but for those of us who do plug in, it’s safe to say that we’re a tech-savvy, adaptable bunch. Because we became acquainted with the interface and potential and language of new technology at a young age, we are certainly well-poised to keep pace with its exponential rate of evolution. Are the 7-year old smart phone owners in a better position for the long run? Probably. Can they type 120 words per minute, debate the merits of Firefox over Internet Explorer, and reach things on the top shelf of the fridge? Not yet.
Have I remotely answered what it means “to use” the Internet? Nope. But, I am typing this to you in a customized blog at a time when my 70-something grandmother (-whom-I-love-dearly) can’t even open a web browser and my newly 50-year old mother (-whom-I-also-love-dearly) manages to both be a Photoshop pro and to need help burning CDs. (Hi, Mom.) That…pretty much speaks for itself. No offense to the over 40-somethings: I know many of you are professionally and personally plugged in in ways that my peers and I are only just becoming aware of — using office intranets, for example — but if you’re reading this, chances are you’re not among the people I’m generalizing.
And with that, I’d like to end by revealing my own ignorance. This morning, I learned that *Ask.com and AskJeeves.com are…the same. The latter became the former in the United States in 2005.
…Huh.
Categories: Muse
