 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | SELECTED AS A 2008 BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST The Net Generation Has Arrived.
Are you ready for it? Chances are you know a person between the ages of 11 and 30. You've seen them doing five things at once: texting friends, downloading music, uploading videos, watching a movie on a two-inch screen, and doing who-knows-what on Facebook or MySpace. They're the first generation to have literally grown up digital--and they're part of a global cultural phenomenon that's here to stay. The bottom line is this: If you understand the Net Generation, you will understand the future. If you're a Baby Boomer or Gen-Xer: This is your field guide. A fascinating inside look at the Net Generation, Grown Up Digital is inspired by a $4 million private research study. New York Times bestselling author Don Tapscott has surveyed more than 11,000 young people. Instead of a bunch of spoiled “screenagers” with short attention spans and zero social skills, he discovered a remarkably bright community which has developed revolutionary new ways of thinking, interacting, working, and socializing. Grown Up Digital reveals: - How the brain of the Net Generation processes information
- Seven ways to attract and engage young talent in the workforce
- Seven guidelines for educators to tap the Net Gen potential
- Parenting 2.0: There's no place like the new home
- Citizen Net: How young people and the Internet are transforming democracy
Today's young people are using technology in ways you could never imagine. Instead of passively watching television, the “Net Geners” are actively participating in the distribution of entertainment and information. For the first time in history, youth are the authorities on something really important. And they're changing every aspect of our society-from the workplace to the marketplace, from the classroom to the living room, from the voting booth to the Oval Office. The Digital Age is here. The Net Generation has arrived. Meet the future. |
Average Customer Rating:   The future is here As a father of two of the net generation myself, the book was invaluable. As a marketer and advertising professional, it is quite revealing and educational. It is so easy to misunderstand this generation and the changes and challenges they are going through. However, Grown Up Digital helps you understand the types of challenges and opportunities that present themselves with this generation. It guides you to make things better for them. It also helps you create a conversation in the right way and in a way that makes it welcome.
A must read. Insights for Educators This book gives you a lot to think about. I especially liked the chapter on learning and the net generation. The old models of lecture don't work and those of us involved in the field of education should employ some new ways of engagement. Tapscott leaves you with hope for the next generation. Evangelist I agree with the criticism. This book is more like an ideology than an analysis. Sponsored by parts of Corporate America it only shows the bright side of virtual life. Thoughtful decoding of the Net Generation In 1997, Don Tapscott wrote Growing Up Digital, an extensively researched inquiry into how growing up immersed in digital technology changed a generation. Now, he returns to this question, exploring what has happened as that generation and its technology have matured. Tapscott addresses numerous concerns and delves into accusations commonly voiced about this "New Generation." He generally finds that the insults are without merit. In fact, he is almost a cheerleader for the digital generation (or "Net Gen," as he calls it). The book reads quickly, especially considering that it is based on a $4 million, multiyear research project including nearly 10,000 interviews. Where Tapscott shows his supportive research, he is highly persuasive. When he wanders into personal positions, his reasoning is less compelling. getAbstract suggests his comprehensive report to a wide range of readers: all marketers and futurists, anyone interested in cyber-culture and any human resources professionals who wonder how to integrate Net Gen into the workforce. Don Does With the publication of Don Tapscott's new book on the Net Generation ("Grown up Digital"), I could write "Go and read this book", but it might end up as a quote on the Dutch edition of this book (which I don't aspire!), while leaving out the second part of the quote "...because it is flawed in so many ways that it serves as a good textbook on how NOT to present your arguments in a (scientific) debate."
Tapscott's book is one of many books that tries to capture the essence of the current generation by stressing the impact of the technological developments on these youngster, especially Internet and popular applications such as Google, FaceBook, YouTube and others. This leads to a host of exclusive names such as `digital natives', `net generation', `Millennials', `Screenagers' and `generation Einstein'. Currently more research is becoming available that questions many assertions of these authors. What is more, one can seriously question the added value of speaking of generations. For instance, evidence points in the direction that differences in a generation can be as profound as differences between generations. I will write more elaborate about this in the upcoming publication `Wijs met Media' (`Medialiteracy'). Here, let me shortly zoom in on just one aspect: methodology.
If you want to make a statement on the use and experience of transportation: would you ask only car owners? And would you invite members of the Fiat 500 fan club to contribute anecdotes on how they experience going for point A to point B? If the answer is no, would you then gather data on the current generation by asking only internet users on the influence of technology and new media on their behaviour and would you use a FaceBook community as a way to tap into the experience of a whole generation. Do you? Well, Don Does.
Would you disqualify scientific research with the remark that laboratory research cannot capture the complexity of reality and replace this with your personal observations of your own children? Would you leave out data on other generations, preventing any comparison among generations? Would you step over any data that is contrary to your point with the remark "anyway"? And would you beforehand disqualify any counterargument by stating that those arguments are based on fear, fear for the new? Well, Don does.
Would you ask the CEO of Google whether he thinks his employees represent the `dumbest generation', and take its denial as part of the proof that the Net Generation is media smart, and are full-fledged communication professionals? Would you criticise other research for using surveys and base your own research on...surveys? And would you spend four million dollar on research on the Net Generation and present as recurring `evidence' the behaviour and quotes of your own two children Niki and Alex? Well, Don does.
Tapscott disqualifies the current educational praxis as a hundred year old monster that needs a fundamental shake-up. Less `broadcasting' more interaction. Certainly a point of discussion but not with the arguments Tapscott brings to the table. But I'll give him one point, as a `student of methodology' (p. 305) Tappscott hasn't picked up fundamental principles of doing research while in a `traditional' class. Maybe he should have attended classes more or `interacted' with someone knowledgeable... But Don didn't. |  |
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