The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s by Brad Stone was primarily about the generation gap already beginning to surface. Since technology is moving at an ever-changing pace, each generation has new opportunites and gadgets available to them. Instead of one big generation gap, it is a combination of several smaller ones. People born in the 80's, 90's, and 2000's have many differences among they way they live and perceive the world. For example, one 3 year old thinks all screens are touch screen because she is so used to her father's Iphone. Psychology professor Dr. Larry Rosen says that teenagers today, when texting or emailing, expect an instantaneous response from teachers, friends, and parents and are losing patience skills. He also did studies on multitasking which proved that teens multi-task more but their focus and concentration is limited. Online gaming is also changing the way children socialize; virtual sometimes serves as a substitute for the real thing. Privacy and online safety is another issue that doesn't seem to phase many kids and teens. Maybe in the future everyone will see what they have in common such as devices that control every aspect of one's life and they won't be so different after all.
Born Digital: Chap 13 Synthesis by Palfrey & Gasser
This last chapter was basically a wrap-up of what was discussed earlier in the book and the authors' ideas for solutions to problems in our digital society. Urs Gasser hoped that the Digital Natives that read the book would have a new outlook on their digital world, take advantage of new opportunities, and realize that it will be their job to "shape the future of the Internet". John Palfrey believes that collectively, Digital Natives will use their innovation to solve problems in the future and make the world better. They could be more skilled in the acts of privacy and safety and help each other to be responsible. Creativity would improve and piracy will decrease as many people would be creators and will understand why they should have respect for other's property rights. What Palfrey is most worryed about though are the bad things that happen digitally such as cyberbullying and scams. Hopefully, people learn to care more and work together. One more thing he worries about is the fact that digital technologies are not available to everyone. He hopes digital natives understand that and work to bridge that gap. Next, Gasser gave some suggestions for parents and teachers. They should improve their knowledge of new things and this new age instead of having the attitude of "those damn kids..". Talking to their kids at dinner or in the classroom about how they are using the internet and if anything is bothering about it is helpful, but even better, they should let their kids show them how everything works. Also don't hesitate to give kids rules and boundaries when online. Next, Palfrey mentioned how companies expect a big deal of trust from young people by having them allow the companies to hold and share so much personal info. Companies such as Myspace and Facebook to be exact. Then, Gasser talked about how the law comes into play. "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" was an essay by John Perry Barlow that claimed governments should not interfere and real world laws don't apply to cyberspace. In some cases, it is very hard to find the specific people not doing what they are supposed to do online. However, laws such as data protection laws and copyright laws are necessary and in effect. The main points the authors' wanted us to take away were that the world is changing and in the hands of Digital Natives so we should take all the opportunities and advantages available to us and put it to good use.
What Surprised Me?
The one thing that surprised me was one occasion mentioned in Stone's article about his 2 yr old daughter picking up his Kindle and saying "Daddy's book". It's amazing to see how their idea of the world is so much different than people just 10 years older than them. Even though it is something as simple as a book, that's just the beginning. There will be more generational differences to come. It's similar to how back in the day going to school only meant walking or taking the bus to a school building. Now, it can mean logging into a Webex session online and having a video conference with your class.
Ponder This...
Do you agree with Barlow's argument in his "Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" essay? Should the government interfere with the internet?
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