How the Google generation thinks differently

[ryanpatgray]

This is a few months old but still relevant. The Times (UK) has an interesting article about how technology has changed the way people mentally process information.

@Catherine O'Brien

It took the impartiality of my geeky acquaintance Ben, however, to unearth the truth: “He’s a digital native; you’re a digital immigrant. Your brains are never going to be on the same circuit system.”
Digital natives and digital immigrants are terms coined by the American futurist Marc Prensky to distinguish between those who have grown up with technology and those who have adapted to it. As an immigrant, I may be computer-proficient, but I still print out documents to read them, call people to check they received my e-mail and keep a dictionary by my desk.

Here is the link.

[liberty_student]

I still print out documents, but only because I don’t like reading from a screen.

[Nitroadict]

@liberty student

I still print out documents, but only because I don’t like reading from a screen.

This will be necessary for me as reading from the screen, even with an LCD screen, fatigues the eyes too much to be practical over long-stretches of time. Imo, printing out documents won’t really much competition until different materials are used for monitors and/or when electronic paper gets more developed & advanced.

However, paper will always have a unique tactile experience & an intimacy that will probalbly never be replaced due to novelty. Even in the 24th century, they replicated books [8-|]

[ryanpatgray]

@Nitroadict

@liberty student

I still print out documents, but only because I don’t like reading from a screen.

This will be necessary for me as reading from the screen, even with an LCD screen, fatigues the eyes too much to be practical over long-stretches of time. Imo, printing out documents won’t really much competition until different materials are used for monitors and/or when electronic paper gets more developed & advanced.

However, paper will always have a unique tactile experience & an intimacy that will probalbly never be replaced due to novelty. Even in the 24th century, they replicated books

I bought a Sony Reader a while back and I love it for reading rare old books I downloaded from Google Books and converted to Sony’s proprietary format. But, given the choice, I would much rather have the same book in dead-tree form. I must admit that the E-Ink is very easy on the eyes but sitting under a tree reading a Sony Reader does not give me the same experience that reading a dead-tree book does. Also, I like to make marginal notes sometimes.