Wristwatches

There are plenty of ways to describe to superficial and surface differences between generations. The younger generation may sport more tattoos, and body piercings, and other conventional forms of youthful defiance, but deeper than that I can now see that there are some other differences worth considering. Beyond the strange hairdo’s, there are plenty of evolving social behaviors which are certainly interesting to see, especially since they may be harbingers for the future.

The vast majority of the young (i.e. middle school, high school, and college students, and generally almost anyone under the age of 30) don’t wear wristwatches. I occasionally see a few people who are a lot younger than me wearing them, but anecdotal information like this doesn’t have that much meaning.

The fact that so many of the young don’t wear wristwatches is not the issue; it is only a result of some much more interesting things going on underneath. Why wear a watch when you always carry a cell phone?

So, we can see that this already alludes to being part of social networking world. Another is that while a cell phone may have a timepiece on it, it is less ubiquitous (i.e. it is in your pocket not right in front of you…)…does this change how you deal with time?

Wristwatches and the younger generation
http://moreorlessbunk.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/the-younger-generation-and-wrist-watches

Generation Watch Out
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/esearch/e3iac830de737fb3212296a4eea0a07c60b

How they live has everything to do with how they work. They time shift. Favorite shows happen online, on-demand. News is 24/7. There’s not much use for e-mail. Instead, they’re YouTubing, Stumbling, Digging, Twittering, blogging, updating. They’re Loopted and LinkedIn. Caffeine drives the day and night. In this world, wristwatches and alarm clocks are as necessary as rabbit ears. They grew up IM’ing, and the cell phone rules. Area-code identity is mobile but long lasting — a virtual network.

Old People Wear Watches, Young People don’t
http://www.thegeminiweb.com/babyboomer/?p=1414

The Beloit College Mindset
http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2014.php

7. “Caramel macchiato” and “venti half-caf vanilla latte” have always been street corner lingo.

8. With increasing numbers of ramps, Braille signs, and handicapped parking spaces, the world has always been trying harder to accommodate people with disabilities.

9. Had it remained operational, the villainous computer HAL could be their college classmate this fall, but they have a better chance of running into Miley Cyrus’s folks on Parents’ Weekend.

10. Entering college this fall in a country where a quarter of young people under 18 have at least one immigrant parent, they aren’t afraid of immigration…unless it involves "real" aliens from another planet.

11. John McEnroe has never played professional tennis.

12. Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry.

13. Parents and teachers feared that Beavis and Butt-head might be the voice of a lost generation.

14. Doctor Kevorkian has never been licensed to practice medicine.

15. Colorful lapel ribbons have always been worn to indicate support for a cause.

16. Korean cars have always been a staple on American highways.

17. Trading Chocolate the Moose for Patti the Platypus helped build their Beanie Baby collection.

18. Fergie is a pop singer, not a princess.

19. They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone.

20. DNA fingerprinting and maps of the human genome have always existed.