Millennial generation

[Karma]

a.k.a. "Generation Y" is generally described as anyone born between 1982 thru the early 2000's.

More & more lately you hear about this generation in the news, particularly the marketing themed programs & also w/ regards to trends in the work place & other environments.

One recent report featured a poll that said 60% of Millennials polled felt that having a smart phone was more essential than having a car! :sure:

Now, I'm a proud member of Generation X (which has the dubious distinction of being the SMALLEST group of modern generations, sandwiched between the largest (Baby Boomers) & the one rising in influence (Millennials))....& I'm not old, but i AM "old school"...& I gotta say...kids in my group couldn't WAIT to get their license & start driving. I started @ age 15. But these days, you're seeing more & more young ppl not even getting a license until 20-21!!! I can't imagine that.

One young man who was interviewed on this segment said "he didnt really need a car b/c his friend had one & they could just ride everywhere together"....& he said he couldn't get along w/out a smart phone.

THAT's something else Millennials are becoming known for as well, being seen/perceived as "addicted/too dependent on technology."

What do you think?

 

[Screen Legend]

I have a legitimate excuse for not getting one. Perhaps two:

I have an abnormal fear of moving cars

and/or

My mom says that since I have mild cerebral palsy, she doesn't think/know if I can even get my license. Now I'm wary about getting one. There's no point in even attempting doing the written test if I can't get one after all that.

 

[Karma]

I have a legitimate excuse for not getting one. Perhaps two:

I have an abnormal fear of moving cars

and/or

My mom says that since I have mild cerebral palsy, she doesn't think/know if I can even get my license. Now I'm wary about getting one. There's no point in even attempting doing the written test if I can't get one after all that.

Oh yes that's a far different thing than someone who's just too lazy/unmotivated to learn how to drive & get a license or a car. & I know there's ppl who live in places where having a car is pointless (like NYC ). but this was a general poll & nothing broken down by any particular factors.

Getting a driver's license @ 15-16 was like a rite of passage for most young ppl @ least up till my generation, it just doesnt seem to hold as much significance now w/ the millennials.

 

[Black King]

Since I'm one of the few people in that grouping (gen Y) and not a driver I guess I'm ideal for this

Now a days a car really isn't the great investment it used to be. They're more expensive, gas is $3+ a gallon (going on 4 in most places), Millennials currently have insane debts to deal with, bills for tech and internet which are essential in this age for everything, a terrible job market, most jobs don't have a living wage or actively try to screw you out of insurance and benefits as well as a banking system that is out and out disgusting and trying to rip you off at every turn (in the US at least).

Cars and buying your own home used to be great investments but now they're really just traps so some bank can take everything you own when you foreclose on them.

Also as a friend of mine said historically Black people and minorities have gone without own cars or buying their own homes, its really only an issue now because white middle class kids are doing the same thing.

car culture just isn't made for 2013

 

[Screen Legend]

I definitely agree that people born in the late 90's, early 2000's are more dependent on technology today.

However, considering I'm an 80's baby, I disagree with the fact that 80's babies are too dependent on technology. We - 80's babies - are pretty much the last, LAST generation to grow up without any technological devices. I mean, it wasn't until I was maybe 14, 15 that I even owned a computer, let alone find out about the internet.

Oh sure, I had a Walkman and Discman but that's about it. I didn't even get my iPod until, oh, I don't know, 2007? 2008?

 

[Prophet]

Yeah, I've never really felt like I was apart of the Millenial Generation seeing as when I graduated high school, nobody had cell phones yet, texting didn't exist and myspace was not yet a thing, but I do think my generation really witnessed the birth of social media and phone technology and were the first to use it. Do I think we are too dependent on technology? Of course! I love my smartphone! You can pry it from my cold dead hands!!

 

[Black King]

I never really feel bad about being smartphone obsessed cause really we have phones/maps/computer/email/tricorder on us at all times. That is some straight Star Trek level stuff and I don't get how people can't appreciate that

 

[Rampage]

I think that a huge part of this is regional as well. Most of the kids where I live have cars to drive (if not one of their own) if they can afford them as soon as possible. It is too far to get anywhere and public transportation wastes too much time. For example, it is a 40-minute trip ONE WAY to my son's soccer games. There is not really an infrastructure to allow safe bicycle travel and even if there was, who wants to get hot and sticky half the year to get everywhere they go?

As for smartphones, my 12 year old son has had one for two years and mainly uses it for games so far. I look at it as the march of time. People have said the same things about cars, air conditioning and telephones in their times. I think that humanity will manage just fine. Like old people talk about the lack of close connections when the truth is that people now have ever wider circles of friends/ acquaintances that include that old time circle plus a lot more people. Most old people have the people they went to school with plus in their neighborhood plus maybe some school friends. I can keep in contact with my high school people in Korea, Singapore, all over the world. I don't see the disadvantage.