27 August 1998

One of the most obvious changes that we see around us these days is the increasing use of computers. Since I make a living using them, I will no doubt have lots of things to say on topics related to them. The most interesting aspect of this evolution to me is how succeeding generations relate to new technology.

An analogy useful to the cultural evolution of the use of computers is the advent of the automobile. Our parents' generation was born when automobiles were not in general use. Of my two grandmothers, one never learned to drive at all and the other learned to drive, but did so very seldom, preferring to let others drive her about the small town she lived in. For my father, automobiles became common as he grew up. In fact, he made his living working with them, being a financial officer for a large Cadillac dealership in Houston, Texas for nearly all of his professional life. I, in turn, was almost literally raised in a car. When I was born my father was in training for the Second World War. He was stationed in several different parts of the US as his unit was being trained for warfare in different types of terrain. My mother chose to drive across the country and live in rental housing near whichever base he was currently stationed. The speed limit was set very low in order to conserve gasoline, so it would often take a week or more for her and the other wives to drive to the next area. While in transit we would often just sleep in the car. For my generation, cars have just been a part of the environment that we accepted as a given. When I was growing up the minimum age for having a driver's license was 14.5 years. It is now 18, society having realized that with the traffic level and the speeds that modern cars drive a certain level of maturity is desirable in all drivers. Age doesn't necessarily provide that, but it certainly helps.

Interestingly, the grandmother who never drove once won a new car in a drawing conducted by an automobile show. She was then living with us in Houston and had gone to the show just because the whole family went, having no interest in such things herself. She filled out the card and won the car. She accepted a cash equivalent. Since my father worked for the distributor of a different brand, we had no use for it either.

Similarly, computers arrived on the scene late in the lifetime of my parents and early in mine. For my sons they have always been a part of the environment that they accepted. My parents both learned to use a computer but were never very comfortable with them. I have made my living with them, made a few modest contributions to their evolution, and would not know what to do without them. My sons are extremely comfortable with them. When confronted with a new system or a new program they jump right in, disdaining the user manuals. (Their mantra is "We don't need no stinking manuals", a modification of a quote from a movie popular a few years ago.) My older son earned a graduate degree in Broadcast Communications and began working with a cable TV network in Boston, Massachusetts. When he started there the soon found out that he new a good bit about computers, and would pay him extra for working on the computers they had, installing software, memory, etc. They paid him more per hour for this work than he was earning for his professional work. Eventually he phased out of that and began to make more for his professional work, but it is a comment on how easy it was for him compared to those he worked around who were mostly from an older generation or at least were not raised around computers as he was.

A useful expression is that they are "computer literate" as I am automobile literate. If I were going to borrow the car of a friend, all he would have to do is hand me the keys and tell me how to find the car. I have driven enough different cars and trucks that I would have no trouble driving any car he would have.

Similarly, my sons are computer literate. You could set them down in front of any computer and ask them to use almost any program to do some task. Within a short time they would be off and running, knowing how to use the Help key if they got stuck. My wife and I are similarly computer literate, but with us it is a professional matter, not just a cultural thing. Most of our generation can use computers to some extent, but are not really comfortable with them.