It is amazing to realize that today's typical 12 year old

- was born after the internet/world wide web
- has never lived in a time when Iraq and the U.S. were at peace
- believes a cell phone is a right not a privilege
- has never bought a cassette tape
- doesn't understand why we say "dial" a phone number


sillage

This reminds me of an newspaper article I read recently (on the Internet) entitled "Grandma, What's a Letter?" It was about how the notion of writing someone a letter was completely foreign to the grandchild (and by extension to today's youth). When told what it was, they found the idea of a mailed letter ludicrous when you have e-mail which is so much faster and cheaper.

IMHO it's normal to be living in a time when things older generations take for granted have no meaning for the younger generation. That doesn't mean young people need to be ignorant about the fact that they existed. That's what worries me.