Never friend anyone over 29
It happens all the time. Some new technology or application comes out , it catches on like wildfire and then someone in the media writes an article about the technology being "for the young". Then about 18 months later the technology becomes more mainstream and an article is written about "baby boomers" using the technology, platform or application.
The shock of it all. 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 year olds using a social network ? Sending Text messages ? Bowling on a Wii? Who knew?
It seems like those who write these articles think all of the baby boomers and their parents were asleep over the last 25 years. Did they not notice the PC revolution? Could anyone miss the IBM Charlie Chaplin ads 25 years ago? Did they never quite manage to figure out what that modem in their home pc was designed to do? Even if it came with free software to test and try The Source, CompuServe, Prodigy, AOL and others ?
Technology. Digital Communications. They are not new. They are not news. They are old news. But thats not what is interesting about these articles.
What is interesting to me is not that articles are written showing surprise that the geriatric generation and their kids are going online , despite the protests of their grandkids. What is interesting to me is how few in the media, regardless of platform, be it TV, Newspaper, magazine , blogger or twitterer, have more than a rudimentary knowledge of the history of the technologies we are using.
There seems to be some delusion that all technology and applications are new. Invented from a cloudburst with no historical context. That as new, the technology is the province of the young, with anyone over 29 too old to understand and too confused to actually use it.
If it were up to those in the media, the new phase for high school and college kids today would be "Never friend anyone over 29"
In this day and age, 25 years post the first IBM PC, pretty much everyone is able to adapt to, accept and become accomplished with consumer technologies.
Your granddad is going to want to be your friend, text or IM you and get a GPS enabled phone. Get used to it.
Mark Cuban co-founded Broadcast.com in 1992 and is currently the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.
treason and you should be very ashamed of your vile propaganda. You are of the
most lothesome ilk. You sit on your arrogant throne of wealth and privilege
while American youth sit tonight overseas in peril. Regardless of anyone's
political views in this great country, you have clearly crossed the line. I will
speak out against elitist vermin of your own ilk. You are a traitor to the USA. You
should be brought up on charges for that filth.
I work at Best Buy, and being on the frontline of the consumer electronic battlefield, I have a semi-unique perspective to the CE user habbits of our fellow men and women (regardless of age).
The other day, we had an elderly couple come in the store, and purchase a 40" 1080p (the best in HD resolution for anyone that doesn't know what 1080p means) LCD TV by Sony. They had a few questions about how video games would look on it, and we showed them a demo of an XBOX 360 on a different TV of similar size and specs. The couple purchases the Sony, and no one thinks any more of it. The salesperson assumed the gaming was for the grandkids.
Fast forward one week later, and Best Buy is advertising another Sony TV, this time a 46" LCD 1080p (once again the best in HD resolution, for anyone that doesn't yet know the lingo). However this week we have it specially priced and packaged with a Sony PlayStation3 video game console. The same couple comes in, finds there sales associate from the previous purchase, and purchases this package. And here is there story they tell the associate...
"We just love the PS3. My wife and I just can't get enough of it. But there aren't enough good two player games for us, so we are going to need another 1080p big screen, and another PS3, so if I'm playing in one room, my wife can play in the other. Also, we thought this would be a good option for us if we wanted to play split screen games, because now we don't have to SPLIT SCREEN!! And have you seen this Blu-Ray thing? It's just amazing."
When I heard about this story, I was just floored. Not only does our youth-enthused culture forget about the history behind our new and current tech., we don't think for a second that these products could be purchased and used by anyone and everyone. There isn't a sign up in the Console Gaming section, that says "NO ADULTS ALLOWED."
So as a message to my fellow Consumer Electronic retailing associates, and to the media writers, bloggers, posters, and anyone else that has opinions about the end-users of these wonderful electronic devices, please, PLEASE, P-L-E-A-S-E do not just write off people who generally don't fit in the standard paradigm of a product. You have no idea who is or isn't using it!