Computer Generation

Any of the five broad groups into which computers may be classified chronologically: first generation, the earliest computers, developed in the 1940s and 1950s, made from valves and wire circuits; second generation from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, based on transistors and printed circuits; third generation from the early 1960s to 1970, using integrated circuits and often sold as families of computers, such as the IBM 360 series; and fourth generation, from the 1970s and currently still in use, using microprocessors, large-scale and very large-scale integration (LSI and VLSI), and sophisticated programming languages.

The computer generation consists of the young people who have grown up with the spread of personal computers, cellular phones and information networks. Their visions, ideas and demands will likely affect the development of virtual reality systems strongly, and likely affect future forms of organisation, interaction and politics. This is an attempt to analyse some of the ideas of the computer generation.

Dividing people into generations is an exercise in futility, since there is no limit to the individuality and complexity of people. The more we try to define individuals, the more truth slip through our fingers. But at the same time, as we grow up we are imprinted with views, culture and ideas (memes [Dawkins76]) from society and especially from people of our own age and social group. Ideas which are imprinted during a formative period can persist throughout life, creating long term effects as a generation grows up and influences society.

The computer generation is a loose term, intended to suggest the generation of people who have grown up with computers.

The real computer generation, born in the 80's, has grown up with computers in the home. It is the first generation who has had access to computers all their lives and take them for granted. To the older members of the computer generation, born in the late 60's and 70's, computers are something new and interesting. We still remember the Sinclair ZX-81, the Commodore VIC 20 and the Apple II. Computers and information technology is something that appeared during our youth before our eyes, but except for some enthusiasts they were not in common use until recently (the early 90's or so). However, the younger members of the computer generation have always had computers, and don't regard them as something new or special. They are tools to be used, just like the cellular phone, the other defining technology of the computer generation, a generation which could as well be called the communication generation.

The computer generation is the logical result of the technological and social development of the late 20th century: spoiled in some sense with easy access and material wealth, quickly adapting to a world that changes faster and faster, networked and used to technology. It is already one of the driving forces in the development of the Internet, virtual environments and the ideas that will determine the direction of global society in the early decades of the 21st century.

The computer generation is right now mainly in its teens. Long before 2010 it will be a noticeable political, economical and technological factor. It's visions can be described as: