More proof that Apple has ingrained itself in the operating systems of kids.
In the race to adapt to new technology, we’re all sprinters, running out of puff by the time we hit our mid 20s when things suddenly seem to get…..harder. Think back to your mid 20s (or if you’re in them, become aware of your surroundings). Whatever technology you used then became the benchmark for your future relationship with all things tech.
My mother, for instance, is unparalleled in her ability to flip through a file-o-dex. I taught her to use the Internet but she does so with a grimace and it was more effort than what I imagine it must have been like to train a circus bear to ride a unicycle.
But if you’re a kid, a tiny baby even? The world is your digital oyster. Don’t believe me? Here is a baby who is trying to use a magazine like an iPad:
She’s one. ONE! Do you know what she’s thinking?
“Oh my seriousness, what would possess these people to make an object that I cannot move around with MY FINGER.”
Or at least she would be if she’d even developed language skills yet. All this obvious want for intuitive technology and the kid can’t even speak. Remember when magazines became predominantly colour? We thought that was awesome.
Think about it. This is her normal. Imagine what her future will be like when she’s 30 even!
We recently ran this gallery of things like this that would make you feel old. Pull up your zimmer-frame and take a look:
Got any to add? What are some things you used to use that the next generation are blissfully unaware of? Film in cameras? Fax machines? Telegrams?
Top Comments
Damn you Rick!!
I suddenly feel like a hundred years old.
It's not just how many things and years have past us, but that the technology has been changing at breakneck speed.
Also that kids have become so good at selecting, learning and discarding information. I know kids who would no longer know how to use the original iPod and find it a chore.
Remember, you're only as old as you feel, or what Apple decides.
Thank you for the wonderful article. Have a beautiful Christmas.
I'm not sure about your theory that technology in our 20s shapes our relationship with future technology.
When my mum bought our first VCR when I was 4 (1984), I was the one given the task of setting the time and tuning in the channels. It was just natural to me. The younger we are when new technologies reach us, the quicker we will pick them up.
Babies are being given their parents' smart phones to play with as a little portable babysitter (like the TV in the house, the DVD player in the car etc - heaven forbid parents actually talk to their children!!). Obviously they are going to be more adept than we could ever be.
alyssakt: sounds like me, my mother woke me when i was four (1975) to set up the 'reel to reel' so she could listen to some music... LOL I love technology, our kids are growing up in an exciting and wonderful time.
My family got our Commodore 64 in 1988 when I was 8 and my youngest brother was 3. I lived in a lower class area and we were one of the first families at my school to have a computer. My brother was fantastic on it, to the point where if the computer in our classroom was not working, I would be asked by my teacher if my Mum was on school lunches that day so my little brother at 3 years old could come and fix it! Still amazes me today when I think back. Amazing there is only 5 and a half years between us and yet such a difference in how old we were when technology got upgraded and our reaction to it.