My daughter Rebecca was born I was nearly 32 years older. Our generational gap is over 30 years. I have never felt any "age" issues because of this difference with Rebecca. When she asks me something now that she is 14, I try not to explain to her, I give her the answer, because if I don't I will get the "my father is an idiot look". Rarely have I ever had to say she was doing something stupid or kid like. She has been an adult almost right out of the gate. I always say she was 10 going on 18, adding the appropriate years as she aged.
Now what really excites me is when Becca sponges up some information from me. We would be watching our favorite TV show Lost. Becca will see one of those blue and white 1970's Darma Initiative Volkswagen vans. Becca has never seen a van like this in her whole life. What are those vans?, she wants to know. I say they are Volkswagen vans that hippies used to drive around the countryside in the 60's and 70's. Then she would said I thought that Volkswagen made those little cars like bugs. Of course they did, but they also made these vans so like 7 people could squeeze in and drive from San Francisco to Washington, DC on like 17 dollars of gas, and protest to the government that pot was not legal.
The difference of our generations where it is most apparent is in comparing the games of Wii and Pong. My dad brought home a game called Pong for the family in 1976. Pong was Americas first home computer game, and was also a huge piece of crap. Pong consisted of using a TV screen to show two paddles and one ball, really a block, which players hit back and forth. The player who failed to hit the ball would lose the point. If you saw an air traffic controller's flight screen, it looked much cheesier than that. Move up to 2006 with Wii exploding on the market from Nintendo with such a force that boys and girls and their parents are now playing video games, sometimes even together as a family! Wii allows your body movement to affect the Mii, your computer persona, you are playing. They even have a nunchuck device to allow two handed playing like to fly a plane and shoot weapons at the same time. I myself even exercise 30 minutes every day with Wii Fit, and I never exercised in my whole life, save for when I was on the wrestling team.
Sometimes I sit an wonder what is in store for Becca's life and what kinds of new technology will be in their future. Then I just sit back and forget it. To think what my daughter has seen since her birth 14 years ago: Laptops with usb technology to allow use anywhere in the home, no longer are we constrained to a big bulky PC, and connections for many externals with a small cable. We have wireless technology which allows 2 or more laptops to use the same internet connection, and print from the same printer. Cell phones have grown and improved so much that the technology in the cheapest Samsung flip phone far exceeds any phone ever sold before she was born. Then there is the Ipad. This which will allow students and artists and many others the easiest way to page through websites, write and email, flick through photos, or watch a movie all with the touch of a button. What else is coming for Becca's generation? I have no idea, but I will surely enjoy Rebecca explaining it all to me!
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