The internet didn’t change my life at all

I was sorry to miss the recent Webstock Mini event in Wellington a couple of weeks back.

But, the good news is that the presentations are now all available online:

http://www.webstock.org.nz/recordings.php

If you didn’t get along, make sure you check out the 10×2 sessions.

This is the quote that grabbed my attention:

“The internet didn’t change my life at all.
I can’t remember life without the internet”.
— Josephine Hall

Ouch! That would have stung for some of the older people in the audience.

She is now 18 and talked about using the internet in 1996, while still at school, to research a science project.

I graduated in 1996. It was also around then that I read an excellent book called Growing Up Digital by Don Tapscott, about “N-Gen”, or the net generation. They (we, although I only just qualify!) are the echo of the baby boom, who have grown up surrounded by interactive technology.

From the book:

Technology is only technology to people born before it was invented
— Alan Kay

That’s why we don’t argue anymore about whether the piano is corrupting music with technology
— Seymore Papert

So, if you’re the sort of person who still marvels at the promise of the internet, take a look over your shoulder and see people, like Josephine, who are already taking it for granted and asking what they can actually do with it.