Miramarmike has this interesting post talking about the generation gap in IT between 30-somethings and the net generation coming through.

Mike so rightly mentions that;

People of my age (35+ … *ahem*) that work within ICT in any way whatsoever generally see themselves as up with the times, leading the fuddy-duddy business to new and exciting pastures where they can do incredible things with acronyms – EIS, BI and even SAAS.

The new ‘new world’ers don’t understand why the business has to be lead. They look at PC email clients like we old ‘new world’ers look at fax. They look at lock-down PCs like we look at closed office doors. They look at txt’ing like we look at online forums. In essence, they live this new world, know no different and look at our ‘cool toys’ like they look at 80’s music videos – with some humour, a slight reverence because “you saw the original, cool!” and a lot of, “Eeeuew, that is so 80’s”

Mike raises some interesting questions. In the same way that we expected the last generation with its telex’s, fax’s and understanding of what ENIAC is/was to stand aside when we cam on the scene with our bag full of new tricks (and what, as an aside, would our generation give as example of the quintessential bag of tricks of our time?), will we similarly be prepared to stand aside for the net generation to have their day?

And where does that leave us??? Mowing the lawns and making bonsai I guess. With that sobering thought I leave you with what is, sadly/gladly or otherwise, the quintessential bag of tracks of my time… enjoy!

Ben Kepes

Ben Kepes is a technology evangelist, an investor, a commentator and a business adviser. Ben covers the convergence of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users.

2 Comments
  • Hah!

    You want to have a truly horrendous day? Mine started off innocently. I had my 12 year old son for the day, and I resolved that as we went around the town, I would point out everything we saw that didn’t exist when I was his age. I won’t admit how many years ago that was, but suffice it to say that I got so depressed I had to stop by lunchtime.

    I was not depressed so much at all the water under the bridge. It was more all the cool stuff I won’t live long enough to see that he will when he gets ready to have that same chat with his son.

    Cheers!

    BW

  • Which, my good friend, is why I’m going to try my best to change the world faster than otherwise would have happened. I want to enjoy the change too…..

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