Childhood on demand
I started thinking about this one day when I watched my nephew react to having his picture taken. He immediately ran over to the photographer (his mom) and asked to see the picture. I have seen this behavior in my own kids since then, and it really drives home how the changes in technology are providing a completely different childhood from the one that I knew. These kids will have no concept of sending pictures to get developed. This might not seem like much, but there were lots of things associated with film development when I was growing up:
- Dropping the film off at the store.
- Picking it up days or week later (maybe an hour or two if you were in a hurry).
- Sharing the pictures with everyone else when you got home.
- Taking many rolls of film with you on a trip.
- Having copies of the bad pictures as well as the good ones.
The big thing was that you had to wait. Taking pictures and seeing the results were separated by hours to days to weeks. You don’t have to wait anymore.
This trend continues with Tivo, or any other “on demand” TV service: the concept of network schedules for shows is quickly becoming irrelevant. YouTube (which was talked about previously) means most any video that I can think of from 80′s music to The Muppet Show videos are available instantly. Even using the iPod in the car. Now that last one probably isn’t much different from having CDs or other recorded music for them to listen to, but the big difference is the scale. There are thousands of songs on my iPod, so if there is a request from the back seat for a Sesame Street song (or Veggietales, or Disney, or …) the odds are that it is available.
Even cell phones play a role in this. Want to talk to grandpa? Tell mom, she can have him on the line in less than 10 seconds. Nevermind that he isn’t even in the state, or you aren’t even at home.
Now, I don’t want you to think that the little ones are always running around demanding things (though sometimes they do), or even that we constantly give in (though sometimes we do). There is just an unprecedented availability for people these days, and these guys have never known it any other way.
I don’t know that this is a good thing or a bad thing. It is just different.
Now, gall durn it! Get off my lawn!
