IM Generation

The next generation lives on IM. This is the generation that went to college where networked personal computers were common, and it shows.

I got a good laugh from the next generation when I told them about "computer labs". To some, this may seem strange, but back in the day, no one had PCs, we all went down to the computer lap to do assignments. The problem was, of course, you couldn't leave without having to wait again for a terminal to open up. So no one left. You sat there for 48 hours at a stretch pounding on the keyboard until the assignment was done, or you were. We all stank. Trash was strewn about, mostly pizza boxes and empty soda cans. One particularly gifted student had his girlfriend come and "service" him right there in the lab one night. I've never been as happy about getting a new PC as I was with my first one. It saved me from that damn lab and back to back all-nighters each week. No amount of speed-bumping, new feature this that comes even close to that.

Come to think of it, my poor kids will grow up on IM but with that comes Mom and Dad just a few key clicks away. Now there's a scary thought.