Generation X

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item Generation X

  • And by embracing the usage of technology, I should get the first reply in here...and I'm 48 (baby boomer)

  • Well, thanks for bashing my generation, that was certainly called for..

    I'm 28 so I'm one of those you just bashed a bit.

    To contradict you, a lot of the older guys on the works I have been consulting at never want to listen and fully understand even the more simple things. They want help and they want others to do it for them, IT is to many older people just an annoyance and not a powerful tool that should be used. They do not want to spend time lerning it. My Little brother and little sister have a lot more patience with technology as well and they are not in the IT business.

    So yea, sorry Steve but I think you are wrong. I think it's all personal and individual. Because from my point of view, it's all in reverse to what you've said. However, I've seen a lot of bad patience with young people as well.

  • I agree with IceDread. Aged @ 28 I see lots of my generation people after completing education entering to the IT field. When computers are taken for banking and other industries I see the earlier generation are more hesitant to learn at that age. At least its a picture from my country.

    Personally I also enjoy reading than contributing, but I see its again a personal character/the environment we were exposed to.

  • I guess this makes people like me part of Generation W, or if you like, old farts, fossils, whatever. We were there before there were any PC's on desktops, and I still chuckle to think that the first computer I worked on in business filled an entire room and yet had less power than one of today's gaming consoles.

    But I do take exception to the statement; "I'd like to think my generation is more interested and excited by technology than older or younger ones."

    I certainly would not agree with "excited by technology". I would say "blinded by technology". Consider; we now know that each year cell phones are responsible for thousands of traffic accidents (1,200 in California alone in one year), some of them fatal. But each and every day I see younger people still texting and talking away - about what? - likely nothing, willing to "play" with their technology cause its "cool". Some of the younger folks who work for me come in all lathered up with their latest iPhone, Bluetooth, whatever, and when you ask "Why did you get that?" they have no real answer other than "its so cool". These youngsters always "need" the latest laptop, the latest Blackberry, the latest anything in technology, and yet they have no clue why they need the latest - at least none they can verbalize.

    Technology is great thing, my generation learned that by making it work for us. Today, technology seems often more like crack cocaine to the younger folks. They get hooked, and they use and use, and never ask why they are doing what they are doing. All they seem to know is that they cant live without it - and I don't see that as any kind of good thing.

    There's no such thing as dumb questions, only poorly thought-out answers...
  • I don't know. I see far too many statistical analyses of various groups of people, and I just don't see the use of them in the vast majority of cases.

    Does it take a study to know that people born since the advent of the personal computer are more likely to have had more exposure to technology and to thus be potentially more comfortable with it? Of course not. Do I know a huge number of people of all living generations who have a non-generationally-dependent spectrum of skill and interest in the subject? Of course. I know septuagenarians who are technically proficient and I know teens who aren't, and vice versa.

    I tend to shrug at this kind of stuff and just keep in mind that over 90% of convicted murderers in the US were fed mashed potatoes as children.

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  • I think there is an important detail not considered.

    With age comes wisdom (I hope), and I think as you get older you are more likely to have knowledge to impart on others. It's a basic knowledge cycle really.

    I admit I'm not one to participate in answering questions often on communities, and more likely to be the one asking questions, but this isn't due to an attention span, or excitement about technology. It's due to the fact that I'm still learning and growing. As I become more experienced I hope to be able to help others as well by passing on what I have learned.

    Also I think there is a difference on what work Gen Xs are doing compared to Gen Ys. I'm not sure how Gen Xs have the time to response so quickly to questions. By the time I get to reading a post, there are already experienced people who have responded.

    For the record (if it really matters), I'm a Gen Y, at least on the cusp of it anyway according to the wiki posts.

  • Not entirely sure I agree with generalisations being made. That is like saying. Every man is a potential rapist.

    Sterotyping by generation is still making judgements about groups of people. I am 38 and I can say that in my experiences with younger people, they are more technology focused and tech savvy but it is more down to image rather than functionality. The latest gadget is more likely to be bought by that age range than older generations in my opinion. younger generations tend to be more interested in social networking, usual supects such as bebo and facebook. As you get older your complete perspective on IT/technology in general changes as yourn requirements and interests change.

    Each generation is different and rightly so. Each has a part to play in how technology affects everyone.

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  • I'm a boomer (57) . My mother (90) makes use of some technology. Her baby sister (76) teaches her new things. In part, I think people embrace the technologies that personally appeal to them -- regardless of age. While there may be differences between generations as in aggregate, the individual differences (even within a generation) are significant enough that I doubt that "defining" a generation is very useful.

  • The problems that I see with generalizations is that they tend to conform to the opinions and prejudices of the author, and are rarely backed up by meaningful data.

    Even if the statements about attention span are true, perhaps that could be explained as something true of most young people at that point in their lives. That was probably a true about me at that point in my life.

    Remember that 47.68% of all statistics are complete fabrications.

  • I agree with your editorial in general terms. I can bring up tons of examples supporting it. However, as a 57 year old IT worker since the late 60's I have embraced technology from the days of punch cards and room sized computers to todays fancy information appliances. Even my 77 year old mother is using a computer. She is from a generation not even mentioned.

    That said I can qualify my statements saying:

    Twitter: More useful for organizations than individuals, unless you are a criminal looking for a opportunity to take advantage of someone posting they aren't home.

    Social web sites: Very cool. They provide a great way to network with friends and colleagues.

    I am looking forward to seeing 3d television, more immersive online games, telephones morphing into the Dick Tracey watches of old (and a whole lot more), and trips outside our solar system (probably not in my lifetime).

    The biggest trend is the integration of computer technology into everyday life where you only see the benefit and not the trappings. Using computers went from the days of geeks only to commodities used by everyone whether they are tech savvy or not.

  • I wasn't really trying to offend, but offer my opinion. I've seen so many of the Gen Y, younger generation that tend to act the way I described it. It's not a knock on everyone, but just a trend I see.

    And with people that are more from the baby boomer generation, overall they tend to not get technology, or use it as much. There are plenty of exceptions, but they're general trends I see.

  • As yet another 28 year old on here ('81 was a good year for DBAs?), I won't take offense to any observations about people born around the same time as I was. My brother and sister both use technology differently than I do. My mother uses it in a different way from my father. Are the commonalities within generations? Definitely. I've been working on reading through a book called The Fourth Turning, and it talks about how there are only 4 different "types" of generations that get repeated over and over again through the centuries.

    Each of the types displays common attributes and goals as a whole (such as how they raise their children, what to accomplish in the world, how they define success). You would have to look at this and then think about how technology plays into these goals, but bear in mind that there is plenty of room for individuals to do what they please.

    And yes, for the younger generation (I think those of us born in the late 70s, early 80s are around where the change happens) one of the important things is belonging to social organizations, building new ones, etc. Let's cut them some slack since they have to fight WWIII or deal with some kind of similar world-changing event.

  • Love the interesting comments.

    Not sure if I'm a generation X, Y, blah, blah, blah but I do know that it takes the right attitude to be successful. Here are some words of wisdom pass down to me by my late great grand father that is still valid for any generation.

    1) Always give help where you can because one day you'll be asking for help too.

    2) Learn all you can about whatever you are doing and remember that the more you learn/know the more you'll realize that you don't know it all

    3) Be nice to everyone one. Even if they are not to you.

    4) Your parents, your government, your boss or the world doesn't owe you anything.

    There is good and bad in all generations. So who cares what generation your are?

    Just have the right attitude and you will go a long way in the DBA world or what you do.

    I'm a 44 years old DBA trying to live by this words of wisdom and have made a successful career in the IT world.

    Rudy

    PS. Yes I still love learning technology, from SQL 2008 R2 to rebuilding the engine on my 25 year motorcycle.

    Rudy

  • I believe annemurray99 said it first.

    We younger people don't have the experience or confidence to answer questions in a large forum such as this. And why should we when there are plenty of confident and more experienced members than us willing to share.

    I've been reading Steve's editorials for almost a year now, and every so often there comes across one describing the need to check the information you've been given to ensure it's correct because there are less experienced people who think they know it all and give the wrong information out.

    That's not to say that i don't give anything back. In my work environment, i'm considered the 'site authority' on databases. Be it any sort of database issue, or TSQL scripting. So every now and then, i get asked for advice, such as "how do i go about solving this TSQL problem?". And yes, i can answer that, and do.

    My point is, that while you don't see so many younger people (like myself - i'm just short of 25) giving back to the community, what we're actually doing is helping people in our local environment. It's things like this that will get us the experience and confidence to eventually post on major forums, such as here, when we are older and there are less 'more experienced' people around.

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