Since the 1960s, there has been the idea of the “generation gap”. It has always existed, characterized by the differences in child to parent to grandparent. These gaps are becoming even more evident as technology increases, providing more separation between generations as they struggle to keep up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_gap

Technology is moving at such a rapid pace that even the latest tech savvy generations can find it hard to keep current. The older generations find it even harder, especially if they did not receive some sort of technical schooling early in life.

As technology increases, the world becomes smaller. Ideas and thoughts are spread faster. The people from the latest generations can interact with each other in unheard of ways compared to the older generations. Most of the latest generation are no longer affected by the physical, geographical separation from each other. The west coast can interact with the east coast just as quickly as two neighbors on the same street. The US can interact with European and Asian countries without delay. Technology for the latest generations has obliterated barriers that existed for earlier generations.

Although earlier generations have the same access as everyone else, their life experience gives them a different view of the rapidly changing technology. They did not grow up having all these electronic, digital devices as the more current generations have. This difference has lead to the terms “digital native” and “digital immigrant” to describe these differences. Older generations watched the technology evolve but have not necessarily been immersed in it or forced to interact with it. Current generations cannot get through a day without these new technologies though. Grandparents today can still remember when they finally put a telephone in their house, while their grandchild has probably grown up with a cellphone in their pocket. These differences inherently bring differences in thinking as well as lifestyle. For some in the older generations, the technology curve is so steep that it simply is not worth the climb at this point.

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