About Growing Up Digital...

I've spent much of the last couple of years researching the baby boom echo -- the children of the baby boom. Aged 0-20, these are the first children of the digital age. The results of this research are summarized in my new book. Some of the findings:

• This is the biggest generation ever. The children of the baby boom, or baby boom echo, is louder than the original -- 80 million strong in the U.S. alone.
• The Net is penetrating American homes as fast as television in the 1950s.
• The victim of time spent on the Net is television. Computers and the Net are, overall, good for kids. Net addiction is a myth.
• There is a coming "Generational Displacement" in the workforce as a wave of technology-savvy, energized, collaborative youngsters hit the traditional corporation.
• The N-Gen is already threatening the concept of the brand and turning advertising on its head.
• The "Digital Divide" between technology haves and have-nots is actually growing in the United States, not narrowing, as conventional wisdom says.
• There is a "Generation Lap" -- most kids know more about computers and the Net than their parents. For the first time ever, children are an authority.
• Children today have good values and they care about the environment and social issues. They will be good leaders for the 21st century if things continue as they are.
• There is considerable hostility towards the new generation, their culture, and use of technology that may lead to a "generational explosion" -- a battle of the generational titans as boomers and N-Geners increasingly come into conflict over social priorities, attitudes, and styles of working, learning, and consuming.

Important 1996 books for me: