Have you seen the TV ad where everyone wants to be an Internet nerd?

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Have you seen the ad on tv where all these young individuals talk about how much they want nothing in their life except for being able to connect their computer to the Internet and be hooked up?

Scary... and very real: If y2k doesnt throw a sledgehammer into our societal transformation with knowledge and specialization...and make us wake up to the risks of dependency... Then I think that this next generation will be sooooo far gone from knowing how to exist without computers that any total failure will be much more dangerous than even the current danger and risk that y2k presents.

Have you thought about how much the knowledge we had of "old manual ways" is lost. Prepared mentioned it Link few messages back, when she talked about how surviving might mean having the knowledge of 180 degrees from being a computer techno genius. I'm involved in agriculture and have seen the agbusiness evolve as a result of computer specialization. We just don't know how to do so much that is basic, because we gave that up as drugery and also even more so to specialization.

It even came home so much more in Feb of this year. My mom who was 79 and grew up on the farm without elect, etc died. With her went a ton of expertise that you simply cannot pull out of the books, and honestly I was planning on her as a y2k asset. I wouldn't be surprised if y2k reverses the trend we have had in this country where the "younger generation" is more respected than the older ones with "learned knowledge" (which you still see in non-techno nations).

We (as a country) have looked down on the old people as not really an asset because the young were able to grasp computers so much more clearly... Y2k may eventually change how we view age and knowledge. When its no longer available from a calculator or the Internet, people with experience, memory and a mind will be valuable once more.

-- A Guy (waiting@y2kGI.com), December 12, 1999

Answers

Interesting stuff Guy. Related trivia: I heard the young'ens today are called the "data generation", as opposed to the older "generation X". Seems to fit...

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 12, 1999.

Bill Clinton says that the US has a severe gap between those who have the internet and those who do not. He states it is his duty to fill that gap; that every American should be able to "get online" and have the same opportunities as everyone else.

My question is then, "if we are paying the "Universal Connectivity Charge" on our phone bills for those who cannot afford phone service, will we see another charge to help buy those who cannot afford computers and internet" ?

You go Willie ! How much more can you find to buy with my money ?

-- Rob (maxovrdrv51@hotmail.com), December 12, 1999.


They're the slackjawed meathead generation. They're the scripted life generation.

They're incapable of anything other than obsessing on style and grooming, and incapable of answering any question that hasn't had the "answer" hammered into them by rote, or sitting on a sheet of paper in front of them.

"Customer service" consists of letting the poor bastard call in (frequently for-fee), rattle off his problem, and then having a snotty little pr*ck in a suit go through his script looking for the closest-fit "answer". (Customer says "a b c", you reply "d e f".)

When you see these morons in real life (they seem to gravitate towards "jobs" at places like cellular phone sales offices and the like), they babble on and on like idiots, all costumed up in their suit costumes (I wear a suit, I are SOMEBODY), and when you take them off their scripts (not difficult if you set yourself to it), they start bouncing off the walls.

First, they'll start repeating the same non-answers over and over again -- generally the last two they fished off their list. When you politely remind them that the answers are nonsensical, and have no bearing whatsoever on the *question*, they become visibly (and audibly) agitated.

I refer to these dinks as "suit boys" -- frequently to their faces, when it gets to that point -- and they hate it, heheheheh. I *know* they hate it because they tend to blither out stuff like, "he called me a suit-boy!"

It's tragic that not only are these meatheads incapable of *thought*, but that they've been *trained* to *avoid* even attempting to think.

I take a somewhat pessimistic view on this stuff. I think that the "quality" of education is so pathetic that Big Biznuss has shrugged its collective shoulders, and said to hell with trying to teach these zombies how to think, analyze, figure things out, or engage in anything vaguely resemling sentience. Instead, dress 'em up in costumes (suits), give 'em titles (I'm an ASSOCIATE!), tell 'em they're *somebody* (the ol' self-esteem game), and give them multiple choice answer scripts.

In other words, "commerce" is now done the same way "education" is done.

I feel sorry for those poor bastards if they ever have to figure out anything more complex then knotting a necktie or checking off items on a form.

On second thought, I won't feel sorry for 'em at all. They've pissed me off too many times. Let 'em call someone who cares.

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), December 12, 1999.


Ron....you have some points there Bro. I'm in a strange position...I fell naturally into computers and dp quite well with them. However, I spent the first 30 years of my life as a woodsman. So I'm equally at home in both worlds....and I don't fit in, in either. There are some good youngsters out there. Just have to wipe the suffocating society plastic off of them and give them a chance. remember...they are all we have once we move on....

Hmm...I think someone in Nikes just stepped on my grave....

-- Satanta (satanta@zdnetmail.com), December 13, 1999.


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