The generation gap

Ok so the time has finally come when we can actually speak about the generation gap, not in terms of the elder generation that preceded us alone but rather with reference to the “kids” that are following us now. And as you witness each generation, you can see the distinction between them quite clearly. For instance, it’s cute to see our parents get all tech-savvy and fire away emails, sometimes with the “Safe” on top. All that perfect vocabulary and official grammar n stuff. On the other hand, the texting from the next generation drives you nuts wid dis kinda typin. WTH is that? But that’s the way it is. And sure the generation after them will probably be used to memory mapping or something. Just the way, personal written journals are now almost obsolete, so will online blogging someday. Other than that, I guess the kids these days are way more mature than we ever were. Where we played out on the street with street cricket, went cycling with buddies through the neighbourhood, shot hoops in the school basketball court and such for entertainment, the kids these days have their Wiis, PS3s and X-Boxes. And with the Wii-Fit, there is now no feeling guilty about sitting on their asses all day and playing games either. Everything finally owes it’s roots to the technological advancement. With the internet becoming the major source of all information, I would imagine that most kids these days “googled” their texts and wrote stuff in their exams off Wikipedia. I think I wrote a post about this on a not-so-educational viewpoint a while back. You can read it here. And that means that the older generation is having to adapt too. Actually I think I will visit my school the next time I am in Chennai and see how they’re trying to keep abreast with the technological advancement. Coming back to the next generation though, sometimes I wonder if all this technological exposure is robbing away some of the old-world pleasure off of their lives. For instance, I read that Amazon sold more Kindles than they did actual books. But can the e-book hold the same feel that an actual book can? When you fold out the fresh spine of the brand-new book, the smell of the pages, the big black ink on crisp new pages, the feeling is classic and something that every book-lover has enjoyed. Sure the Kindle emulates the text and the overall package, but the “feel” isn’t going to be replicated any time soon. i guess I am just old-worldly in this. But I’d love to hear from the new generation, Do they think they are missing out on anything at all? Or do they just think we are sentimental fools who are dragging them back on the whole techy run? Something similar to our parents trying to convince us about gramophones as opposed to our uber-cool ipods. And then suddenly I understand. It’s all about the perspective. What you grew up with will always remain dear to you, no matter how everything else evolves technologically around you.