I’ve always subscribed to the “shared formative experience” model of describing generations. The description I always remember best is that the most impactful experience that separates Millenials from Gen X is that Gen X remembers getting their first computer at home but for Millenials there was always a computer at home, while the dividing line for Millenials and Zoomers is that Millenials remember a time before the internet and Gen Z doesn’t. Being more or less tech literate does tend to shift how we interact with some of these paradigm shifts, at least in my anecdotal experience.
Personally, I’m right on the boundary between Gen X and Millenial by this definition, as I remember my family getting our first home computer, but barely. That’s not really all that relelvant to the discussion, but it really does help me understand some of the fundamental differences between the various generations, especially as a boundary case that doesn’t particularly feel like I belong to either group. Plus, I work in at a community college with a bunch of Gen X and Boomers, teaching everyone from Gen Z to Boomers, so knowing what some of the most common formative experiences really helps me communicate better.
Yeah, that’s it, I’m GenX, but I actually had a PC in the home as early as I can remember, got my own by age 8 and build my own age 10.
That’s how some of these generational boundaries blur together, where the experience that defines one, can already have been part of the previous in specific circumstances.
And personally, I’ve VERY interested in seeing 10 years down the line when we have the first adults who grew up with on-demand streaming and tablets/phones.
When I was a child, they shoved a picture book in my hands to keep me entertained while sitting still.
Now, you give them a tablet and they can watch YouTube or cartoons, right in their hands.
Really wonder what difference this kind of thing will cause.
I’ve always subscribed to the “shared formative experience” model of describing generations. The description I always remember best is that the most impactful experience that separates Millenials from Gen X is that Gen X remembers getting their first computer at home but for Millenials there was always a computer at home, while the dividing line for Millenials and Zoomers is that Millenials remember a time before the internet and Gen Z doesn’t. Being more or less tech literate does tend to shift how we interact with some of these paradigm shifts, at least in my anecdotal experience.
Personally, I’m right on the boundary between Gen X and Millenial by this definition, as I remember my family getting our first home computer, but barely. That’s not really all that relelvant to the discussion, but it really does help me understand some of the fundamental differences between the various generations, especially as a boundary case that doesn’t particularly feel like I belong to either group. Plus, I work in at a community college with a bunch of Gen X and Boomers, teaching everyone from Gen Z to Boomers, so knowing what some of the most common formative experiences really helps me communicate better.
Yeah, that’s it, I’m GenX, but I actually had a PC in the home as early as I can remember, got my own by age 8 and build my own age 10.
That’s how some of these generational boundaries blur together, where the experience that defines one, can already have been part of the previous in specific circumstances.
And personally, I’ve VERY interested in seeing 10 years down the line when we have the first adults who grew up with on-demand streaming and tablets/phones.
When I was a child, they shoved a picture book in my hands to keep me entertained while sitting still.
Now, you give them a tablet and they can watch YouTube or cartoons, right in their hands.
Really wonder what difference this kind of thing will cause.