Digitized Lives, Ch. 1-3

It is always incredibly interesting to find out how things transform through the ages. It is also intriguing to see how things end up being used even though they are created for something completely different. When the internet came out, it was intended to be used strictly for military and scientific purposes. This is a prime example of how through time and creativity something already big can be transformed into something even bigger with several unintended results.

The internet started with smaller intentions of just reaching two specific groups of individuals, but now it has grown to something much larger than ever anticipated. "The internet, to take a pertinent example, was designed with the needs of a small number of military personnel and scientists in mind" (Reed, 11). However, these intentions soon expanded due to a group of "geeks" in silicon valley. These "geeks" created user friendly internet browsers, which over the years ended up giving billions of people the opportunity to connect to one another. Internet was once though to be a phenomenon, yet now it is here to stay.

Internet has changed the way we do everything. It has changed the way we talk, network, spend our time, and one of the biggest things is that it has changed how we shop. E-commerce has decreased the number of people that physically go into stores. Fortunately enough, thanks to the internet we are now able to sit back at home and thoroughly enjoy shopping from the comfort of our La-Z-Boy recliner.

Further, it has completely altered the world of logistics. Before the surge of e-commerce retailers would have to have stock stored away at a fairly close location in order to restock certain items at a fast rate. Now manufacturers are basically making items by the order. This reduces storage fees and the item can be shipped directly to the consumer once the item has been created.

An invention once just created primarily for military and scientific purposes has transformed into a land of endless possibilities. Not only that, has had several unintended results. There was no way that the inventor of the internet could even possibly imagine completely changing the world of logistic and how people do their everyday shopping. The internet has grown into something bigger than ever imagined.

Tapscott- Part 3

Family has always been such a huge key component of almost anyone's life and almost always will be! Someone's family typically play a primary role in how someone grows up and how they perceive the world. At a certain point in any individual's life they tend to leave the nest and grow apart from their family. However, even though Net Geners will also leave the nest at one point in their life. Net Geners are now closer to their families than previous generations ever were, according to Tapscott. Technology is forever shaping and changing this generation's relationships with their families.

Technology is making it much easier for people to stay in constant contact with their family. Net Geners to have the ability to constantly share information and updates on their life, Tapscott says this makes them feel more connected with their family. Thanks to the constant progression of technology, there is a multitude of ways for families to stay in touch. Due to this, families now have the feeling of security of knowing what is going on even when they may be hours away from each other. Connecting with your family has gone to waiting a few weeks to a letter to waiting a few seconds for someone to return your text.

Thanks to technology, there is also a more democratic feeling in today's family environments. There are now more outlets that Net Geners can express themselves. It seems as if parents are picking up on the increase of younger generations expressing who they are. This has led to a growth in a more democratic environment in households. and Net Geners now have more opportunities to express their opinion with their family. This also plays on the norm of "freedom".

Tapscott- Part 2

With internet and devices getting faster and faster, so is the demand for getting information at quicker rates. "New Geners" are getting more and more impatient and now expect information to come faster and faster. We are so used to being able to search information so easily and efficiently that we get impatient and bored waiting for information that is presented to us in a slow manner.

The attention span of "new geners" is getting shorter as more technology is becoming available. Out of the eight norms speed could be the ones that stands out the most for "new geners". Slowly but surely, people in lecture classes get bored very easily and have the tendency to do anything but pay attention to lecture. You can find a large portion of almost any lecture where people are on Facebook, Pintrest, Twitter, and anything else that is more entertaining than lecture. We just can't focus on one thing at a time, we need to have multiple things going on in order to stay entertained.

Further, individuals are starting to get bored with waiting for the information. Google, and any other search engine, makes retrieving information almost instantaneous. The ease of obtaining information is making "new geners" impatient. Why sit in class and listen to a professor rant when Google can bring forth the information in 0.22 seconds*? While there are some classes that the only way you can learn is through hands on practice, YouTube and Google make it easy to learn or perfect almost anything! You can essentially become a professional at something without going through all of the trouble. With all of the things that are available now, the "new geners" are constantly hungry for more.

*How fast google found information on my last search