I was talking to my 17-year-old nephew and he brought up the historical basis of the income tax. I said the income tax amendment was ratified in December, 1913. He took a quick look at the iphone or strawberry or whatever it was in his hand and replied, “You got the year right, but not the month. It was February.”
My next huge undertaking will be to get a phone like that kid has.
The funny thing is there is very little discussion of what can no longer be called the Generation Gap in technology.
It has long since ceased to be a mere Gap. It has gone away beyond the Generation Chasm.
I guess it could now be called The Generational Ocean.
This makes a big difference because it is hard for many BUGSERS to understand just how alien the Internet is to a 70-year-old man.
In fact, all of my four brothers and sisters can only use the Internet because I insisted on coming and teaching it to them. No one else could have but another old man.
It reminds me of James Thurber who was writing about his grandfather driving one of those new automobiles. The old man kept pulling on the guide handle and saying “Gee!” and other things his mode of transportation would understand.
Thurber’s readers thought that was hilarious. But I have a strong feeling that it was true.
I saw a study that might as well be true that said that in tests, 75% of people ended up shouting at their computers.
This can be a useful observation, but if you younger folks shout at the machine, can you even imagine how alien it is to us old folk?
There is quite a reversal here. In earlier ages the Wise Old Folks would try to realize how alien this Brave New World was to young folks. Today most of us old folk are trying to maintain our Wisdom Superiority in the face of the fact that you can look it all up in a hand telephone.
I have one enormous advantage. I have papers to prove I am, as I have told you so many times you’re sick of it, that I am psychologically disabled. That beats the hell out of admitting that I am just plain OLD.
But one untold story of our time is the gap, the chasm, the ocean between our generations.
#1 by RobRoy on 11/29/2011 - 6:50 am
I would seek widom from a psychologically disabled wise old fella who can actually think, before I sought it from a computer.
#2 by herrMajor on 11/29/2011 - 6:57 am
Hey bob,
A couple of us youngins see just how hard it is for you old boys to use the internet and see how easy it is for us.
I’d like to offer (along with all other bugsters) to help you pick out a smartphone like your nephew has, and learn to use it, along with learning how to access BUGS from it, just like many of us participate in the swarm through those little phones.
#3 by Harumphty Dumpty on 11/29/2011 - 12:06 pm
My dislike of the new technology was expressed exactly by the early Greek philosopher Heraclitus: You can never sit down to the same computer twice! 🙂
#4 by shari on 11/29/2011 - 1:52 pm
About a year ago, when I was having my hair done, a woman with a 2yr old girl was having hers done next to me. She did something, and then handed the little girl her phone. There she sat,with pacifier in mouth, pigtails sticking out, and her little thumbs going. I have no idea exactly what, but it kept her entertained. These kids will think nothing of this.
#5 by RobRoy on 11/29/2011 - 2:13 pm
Edit for post #1. Should read “Wisdom,” not “widom.” I suppose I should join the 75% and shout at my computer.
#6 by Bob on 11/29/2011 - 4:32 pm
Thanks, herrMajor, I may take you up on that.
#7 by c-bear on 11/29/2011 - 7:20 pm
This is only somewhat off topic.
I’m middle-aged. I have met a lot of inspiring older folks, and about just as many inspiring youngsters.
When I was a teenager I met a WWII vet from ___. I was introduced through a mutual friend. Having fought for the other side, it was 50 years before he gained US citizenship. He told me “If you are really proud of who you are you will never be ashamed of it.” That’s just common sense to me now, but at the time it was the wisest thing anyone had ever said to me.
My point being sometimes I take common sense for granted. You sir don’t strike me as one who takes anything for granted. Hopefully that just comes with age for me, because I have also met an awful lot of foolish men, both young and old.
#8 by Harumphty Dumpty on 11/29/2011 - 7:56 pm
“You sir don’t strike me as one who takes anything for granted.”
LMAO! Boy, is that an understatement!
#9 by BGLass on 12/01/2011 - 1:12 am
In some ways the generations are closer than ever, and this is good. Like, instead of just being bored when old farts talk, the nephew actually has a device and can check it out, and he had a real conversation about the issue. young people (some) are actually interested in the oral tradition, and they have ways to research alternatives that, before, old guys had to be totally relied on.