Tapscott Part 1

Grown Up Digital

Don Tapscott’s Grown up digital, is extremely insightful into the generation of people who have grown into a digitized world. He calls generation Y or the millennials (born in 1977-1997), by a different name. He refers to us as the “The Net Generation.” In the first part of the book he addresses multiple different aspects of what it must be like for this generation to grow up and how it affects businesses and markets now that that generation is in the workforce. One aspect that I read about in this book is how our brains have been affected due to this digital generation and that is what I would like to focus on in this post.

Tapscott brings up what some of the Nay-sayers of a previous generation have said about the effect of a digital revolution on the Net generation. Some of these things being: “They’re dumber than we were at their age.” “They’re net addicted, and have no shame or proper work ethic and this will cause them to be bad employers.” “They don’t give a damn.”

Tapscott actually went to address some of these issues in a generation wide research project and what he found was, thankfully, quite the opposite of what was being said. Having access to so much worldwide information has actually brought forth an entire generation that is actually smarter than its predecessor. “This generation has been flooded with information, and learning to access, sort, categorize, and remember it all has enhanced their intelligence.” (p.30) as a person of this generation this is something that I am very glad to hear but that is what I have long suspected. Everyone knows now the wonders a digital revolution has had on businesses bringing more product to a larger market it makes sense that the ability to adapt to that world would make for a more intelligent generation.

This digital world had forced us to develop thinking and investigative skills just to be able to sort through limitless venues. Take for example, my usual morning routine: I get up and have some cereal and while I’m eating my breakfast I will check my google news app and see the local, national, and world headlines. After I have seen enough of that I would check my email and Facebook. In a matter of 10-15 minutes I have brushed up on all the news that is important, received correspondence from possible internships or school related information, and checked up on the recent updates from my friends and family. In order for an individual to be able to intake and properly sort through all that information, it simply makes sense that what Tapscott is saying is true. “Net Geners’ brains have indeed developed differently than those of their parents.”