tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post4742224388567204449..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: MillennialsAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-60092129501871268152018-07-03T23:28:49.568-04:002018-07-03T23:28:49.568-04:00james, perhaps I only want the illusion of control...james, perhaps I only want the illusion of control ;-)Donna B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16771075314473811594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-66940344054848582022018-07-03T22:09:45.852-04:002018-07-03T22:09:45.852-04:00I wasn't good at tolerating ambiguity when I w...I wasn't good at tolerating ambiguity when I was 20. I hope I'm better at it now.Texan99https://www.blogger.com/profile/10479561573903660086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-54758567599640907462018-07-03T21:43:43.136-04:002018-07-03T21:43:43.136-04:00The icons do hide a lot of control. OTOH, sometim...The icons do hide a lot of control. OTOH, sometimes you can get lost in <a href="http://linuxcommand.org/lc3_man_pages/ls1.html" rel="nofollow">too much control (e.g. with ls)</a>.<br />Or <a href="https://linux.die.net/man/1/rsync" rel="nofollow">rsync</a>, which I forgot the proper options for this morning.jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792036361407527304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-80324386167314373372018-07-03T21:09:26.924-04:002018-07-03T21:09:26.924-04:00My children fit the age group, but because I balke...My children fit the age group, but because I balked at buying an apple computer (went from Commodore 64 to IBM) they didn't have any exposure to the game at home. Apparently they did at school, but it was minimal and didn't make an impact. <br /><br /><br />As late as 1990, both Commodore 64 and IBM were present in my house and we were "online" with a dedicated modem line for the computers. Chat room trivia games on Qlink were oldies by then, but still fun. (Actually, more fun because I was no longer paying 6 cents/minute on a 300 baud modem.) They had teen and pre-teen rooms. AOL on the IBM was a bit trickier. I actually miss those days of trivia rooms run by Mercury News. I traveled to meet some of those people IRL and it was "enlightening".<br /><br />This was in a rural area. I also had a cellular car phone at the time (Not exactly the same as today's cell phones, but better than the car phones of the 70s. Maybe... coverage was iffy.) What I paid for connectivity at the time seems a huge amount to me today when I'm in a developed area, but it's comparable to what the people in that same rural area are still paying for internet. At least their cell phone bills have gone down. <br /><br />The reason I balked at apple way back then was my preference for text over icons. I was also a late adopter of Windows. And I still don't like icons and Windows. My initial "feeling" that the icons and Windows were hiding control of the system is still relevant. <br /><br />Have I gone off-topic yet?<br />Donna B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16771075314473811594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-10595010802448271832018-07-03T14:02:31.739-04:002018-07-03T14:02:31.739-04:00Yes, it's a reference to the game, and coming ...Yes, it's a reference to the game, and coming of age when it was popular. It was perhaps the first educational game that was both fun and good. The graphics looked primitive within a decade, so those who played the game later were not seen as having the same experience. If you run the phrase past anyone born between those years they will nod or laugh. They see themselves as straddling two worlds, having started out in the analog world for the beginning of their education but being fully digital by the time they finished high school.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-18455983211005422872018-07-03T13:11:23.125-04:002018-07-03T13:11:23.125-04:00What is "The Oregon Trail generation"? ...What is "The Oregon Trail generation"? What does that mean? I'm old, but i have heard of an Oregon Trail game/computer-game.Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-52234494561070701212018-07-03T12:16:15.019-04:002018-07-03T12:16:15.019-04:00I've got a bunch of millennials as young engin...I've got a bunch of millennials as young engineers A couple of things stand out:<br /><br />1. They are less well prepared professionally (same universities, similar programs as us old guys) which I believe is due to two factors. One is too much computer support in school and life. Their basic reasoning skills seem missing without a computer to support them. the other is that everyone is going to college/university now. In the 1970s if you had the grades you could easily get in to top schools. The students really wanted to study engineering rather than being told they should consider this. So self selection was stronger.<br /><br />2. Their cognitive skills are different which again is a product of connectivity. With GPS none of them can navigate by their surroundings. Their raw observational skills are also low. Too many times I told one of my younger staff to go to the north side of a building and getting a blank stare. I then point out the location of the sun!<br /><br />3. It's tough for them to get good financial management skills due to prices being so high and credit so accessible.<br /><br />4. Finally, they really are clueless on history. This is a big handicap in my opinion. My immigrant staff can be somewhat excused but guys born in the USA should know more. We do a worldwide and a USA wide business so knowing a little history of say Alaska would be helpful.dmoellinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13128088863830769762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-43625180965487556282018-07-03T10:07:13.370-04:002018-07-03T10:07:13.370-04:00I have been persuaded that access to a car - a mob...I have been persuaded that access to a car - a mobile hotel room - and having spending money that was not immediately handed to your parents created enormous changes for the 50's & 60's teenagers. Those are a little before plus the first half of Boomers, so they don't fit the standard category. OTOH, as the change was gradual, those changes mostly happened to 50's and 60's kids in the movies and in imagination. <br /><br />Also, a lot of what we ascribe to the late 60's actually happened in the 1970's. David Frum's third book, <i>How We Got Here: The 70's: The Decade That Brought You Modern Life</i> covers that. I never read it, only a review, but the history seemed right. As it's Frum, I'd now be unlikely to read it now unless it were lying on a coffee table and I had nothing else to do.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-56370276306142319072018-07-03T08:48:27.700-04:002018-07-03T08:48:27.700-04:00I am partial to the Strauss-Howe cyclical generati...I am partial to the Strauss-Howe cyclical generational theory (not least of which because it properly recognizes that the Boomer Generation ended before my birth year). They echo some of the same sentiments that you do. Generations are undoubtedly different but there are broad similarities between eras that we mostly don't recognize because it's rare for people to live long enough to see the rebirth of their own generational group. They also agree that the relationship between generational groups changes as each group passes through the life epochs (childhood, adulthood, midlife, elder). So a Gen-X or Boomer in adulthood working with childhood Millennials is going to have a different experience than that same person in midlife or elderhood working with young adult Millennials. They accept that generational groups will influence each other as they exert their efforts to shape society. Finally, their adherence to a 20 year (more or less) cycle tends to avoid people backing into the selection of generational divisions based on information that fits their bias.Christopher Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00396671757183163171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-189507601799983642018-07-03T07:45:44.196-04:002018-07-03T07:45:44.196-04:00I think the car-driving, rock & roll teen danc...I think the car-driving, rock & roll teen dancers in the 50s & 60s were, due to technology as well as recent post WWII history, quite different from the WW II fighters, and the Depression teens, and the Roaring 20s teens.<br /><br />The post-Elvis thru Vietnam era "60s" teenagers & pre-teens were really more different from before than any generation since; plus the Boomers were pretty populous. <br /><br />The growing-up in a digital world young folk have more "infotainment" distractions, but don't seem hugely different, tho more along the spoiled rich kid than anything else.Tom Greyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15046612425809449502noreply@blogger.com