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Oregon Trail Generation

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Re: Oregon Trail Generation

#11

Post by emerged »

mattlondon wrote: post #6

The article seems to focus on "remembering a time before ... " and a general reverence of non-digital lifestyle etc like that is the important bit. I guess I am a xenial, and I remember this cross-over period as one of epic excitement and wonder as this "internet thing" took off and became something amazing. I was lucky enough to be online when a 14.4 modem was fast and seeing the internet grow and develop since then…

I grew up during the transition into the internet era and don’t recall feeling cynical about digital or analog. I was intensely drawn into the internet, software, programming, but never thought “boy I’m glad stupid analog is going to be replaced”

But now we’ve got cynicism everywhere about both analog and digital. Old analog technology is stupid and obsolete but new tech is clearly ripping our society to shreds in a variety of ways.

So I guess I miss being happy with what we had AND being excited about the future.

Re: Oregon Trail Generation

#12

Post by sklargh »

rvense wrote: post #8
sidlls wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think there are "15-year cohorts" so much as "era-defining bookends". I don't think anyone doing research (such as it can be called in a soft-science) seriously thinks there are clear, unfuzzy lines of demarcation.

Lenin supposedly said "There are decades where nothing happens, and weeks where decades happen." I'm ostensibly in this Oregon Trail generation, though as a non-American I've never seen an Apple II in the flesh, and the first time I heard about this game was as the name of a generation. I'm some years older than my wife, and one difference between us is that I have much clearer memories of the 90's as a time of appar…

My spouse and I have both reflected on our 90s childhoods as periods of functional non-history.

Re: Oregon Trail Generation

#13

Post by letitbeirie »

I feel like this could have only happened to people in this very specific age range:

In 1995, when I was a freshman in high school, they trotted my English class down to the library for a lesson on how to use "the information superhighway." For the next hour or so, the librarian dispensed wisdom to us about how to open Netscape, type URLs into the address bar, and that kind of thing.

Put another way, they had a woman who did not know how to use the Internet try to teach a few dozen teenagers who did know how to use the Internet how to do something they did understand by reading them a book that she did not.

I didn't learn anything about the Internet that day but I feel like I gained an appreciation for Kafka, even if I didn't know it at the time.

Re: Oregon Trail Generation

#14

Post by layoutIfNeeded »

jart wrote: post #7

It's the greatest generation. I wish Wikipedia would call it Oregon Trail Generation rather than Xennial, since the latter sounds hideous like a Xenomorph or something.

>It's the greatest generation

Sorry, that’s already taken: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Generation

Re: Oregon Trail Generation

#15

Post by bredren »

underseacables wrote: post #3

This defines my generation exactly. I was born in Early 80s, and I remember our family before the Apple computer, and after we got the Apple computer. I remember street maps, talking to people on the phone, the magic of three-way, and beepers. And as I grew up I watched it all change. I was an AOL kid. It was amazing being a kid when people began emailing one another.

Me too. I love this name because I grew up in Oregon.

I also saw the move from rotary to cordless to caller ID. I heard "Shh. I'm talking long-distance" and also played Commander Keen and used Trumpet Winsock to connect at the ultra-fast 14.4k to local BBS's and eventually Teleport, our local ISP.

We also grew up on Nintendo, I'd say that The Wizard starring Fred Savage is possibly an anthemic film since it showed off the most sophisticated game available (SM3) [2]

As a minor point of this group a major non-digital event event of this time was the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens [1], which was the most disastrous volcanic eruption in US history. (Offers some perspective on the wildfire smoke, perhaps.)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Hel... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros._3#Developmen...

Re: Oregon Trail Generation

#16

Post by jonwest »

codesections wrote: post #10

I was born slightly outside (after) the official years for this generation, but the description for this generation seems to fit my childhood memories much more closely than many "Millennial" descriptions. Does anyone else born in the mid/late 80s share that feeling?

100%. Mid-80's here and even as Millennial was coming into common use it never seemed to fit quite right with me, but neither did Gen-X. I have older siblings, and I think that helps as well since I was exposed to the same kinds of things that they were which blurs those lines further.

Re: Oregon Trail Generation

#17

Post by bredren »

mattlondon wrote: post #6

The article seems to focus on "remembering a time before ... " and a general reverence of non-digital lifestyle etc like that is the important bit. I guess I am a xenial, and I remember this cross-over period as one of epic excitement and wonder as this "internet thing" took off and became something amazing. I was lucky enough to be online when a 14.4 modem was fast and seeing the internet grow and develop since then…

I experienced this but I wouldn't discount TikTok going viral. I saw the early side of that product starting before the Boss Walk, and it really was sensational. The product is carving out a new form of expression and has evolved.

I also wouldn't cede the biggest communication change in the past X years to our adolescence either. I think that immersive VR experiences in the metaverse will be a bigger change than no internet -> smartphones.

Re: Oregon Trail Generation

#18

Post by TeMPOraL »

codesections wrote: post #10

I was born slightly outside (after) the official years for this generation, but the description for this generation seems to fit my childhood memories much more closely than many "Millennial" descriptions. Does anyone else born in the mid/late 80s share that feeling?

There's definitely a time shift for different geographies. I consider myself fitting the overall concept, despite being born in late 1980s - I think it's because late 1980s here in Poland were like early 1980s in the US.

Re: Oregon Trail Generation

#19

Post by TeMPOraL »

jart wrote: post #7

It's the greatest generation. I wish Wikipedia would call it Oregon Trail Generation rather than Xennial, since the latter sounds hideous like a Xenomorph or something.

Well, "Oregon Trail Generation" doesn't sound like anything to people from outside US of A :).

Re: Oregon Trail Generation

#20

Post by teekert »

This feels very familiar. Got my first cell phone at 17 (Ericsson gf768), called girls at home (I can count them on 1 hand but is was always a “thing”) and had to ask their father to put them on the line. I remember computers without internet (at first with orange or green screens) and cell phones without sms. And our first time online emailing friends with the family mail address. I typed most reports on computers but also had to visit the university for papers (although only once for a course). We took the ball from the teachers mouse in 96. The education systems always felt way behind with respect to computers. At home we had windows 95 while we were taught word processing on dos with a blue and black Word Perfect (5?).

I had this discussion with colleagues we never felt like millennials (I’m from 1982). I like this piece. A Xenial is what I am.

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