@theone86 said:
@jeezers: The kids give me hope for the future. Honestly, when I get really depressed from fighting with Boomers I usually think to myself: at least the next generation is turning out alright.
@AFBrat77 said:
@theone86:
You need to learn to count....none of the microgenerations are 4 years, each is 5 as I stated. None are eleven. My point is, you aren't born on the last day of say Baby Boomers and those born next day are Generation X, that's ridiculous. They are way too different. Same goes between X and Millennials and Millennials and Z.....there are real generations between. I can easily be called Gen X also, as 1961 is also used as an X starting point. But Generation Jones is a real thing and we know it. Even the Boomers know we aren't part of their hippie/Vietnam/I love JFK crowd, we came of age in the late 70's and yeah we were the generation at the vanguard of the PC movement. We had nothing to do with those born late 40's.
Ditto for Xennials, grew up with analog until high school and things went digital.
Generations caught between.
I think you need to learn to count. 1959-1946=13 years; 1964-1960=4 years; 1976-1965=11 years.
I think most people realize that not every person born in a given year will exactly fit into that generation. In fact, most people realize that at the years closest to a generational border people are less likely to fit into one generation or the other. Most people say that President Obama is Gen X in spirit, even though he's technically a Boomer. That doesn't mean that we can invent these nonsensical and inconsistent categories to try to shoehorn people into, it doesn't solve the problem.
In fact, there are plenty of people who don't fit into your categories. I was born in 86, but I grew up with mostly analog technology. And as for the emergence of the PC, Wozniak was born in 1950, Jobs and Gates in 55. You weren't the vanguard of anything, you just happened to be around when companies started selling PCs as consumer products.
I believe you need to count, shall we do it together? Do I have to spell it out for you?
1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
How many years is that? Its inclusive. You made similar mistakes each time. Thats 5 years.
You are discrediting yourself if you don't know basic math.
We were the first group to reach adulthood with mass-produced personal computers and we bought many of them. And you are right in one respect we happened to be the first ones with hands on personal computers. Thats a generation marker and an important break. First for videogames and arcades en masse.....generation marker leads into X. First rock music fans to break from traditional classic rock (punk, new-wave, post-punk, hardcore, and a new wave of hard rock led by groups like VanHalen, AC/DC, Boston, and Rush which had no tie-ins to psychedelia [Rush could get out there but not psychedia] or vietnam)......generation marker. Who do you think bought albums from those different music genres when they came out? Thats right, we did. The first wave of Classic Rock is defining to Baby Boomers but not us.
Boomers grew up with stove top ovens, corded phones, 8-track tapes, mostly black and white TV with a few stations.....we grew up with microwaves, cord-less phones, cassette players, VCR's, Pong, and colored TV's with MTV, HBO, ESPN, and CNN on cable. A whole different world. Vietnam, LBJ, JFK, The Beatles, Charles Manson, and Woodstock were way back in the rear view window. We were just entering our teens when Watergate happened and its probably why we are so cynical about politics. We came of age in the late 70's.
Our only tie-ins with Boomers are a big birthrate, which as I said earlier, is not a marker, that could happen for 40 years, would that then make Boomers a 40 year generation? Really? Oh, and we both loved Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, but then who doesn't? GenJones parents were almost always from the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers parents were mostly from the more militant "Greatest Generation" (Shadow Boomers could be either). Big difference in parenting. Its not surprising Baby Boomers tended to rebel.
I guess we can agree to disagree. Obama was Generation Jones he said it himself. Most of my generation (1960-1964) knew we weren't a part of Boomers years ago but most gave up on that and moved on. Cultural experts have always tried to figure out where to put us, Xennials are in the same boat between the next 2 generations. Generation X, I might add also often is stated as starting in 1961 but I don't feel we fit there either. None of us there do. A partial fit with X but we were more optimistic and less "latch-key". I do like people from X though, as I do shadow boomers. I can relate to both of them. The 1946-1964 Boomer designation is an old outdated concept constructed by people in Greatest Generation and Silent Generation to lump kids together as big population targets for future advertising.
Birthrate alone is not a generation marker. That doesn't tie people together. I will agree with you that not every person per year will necessarily fit my generation description but I did my best with the Poll to make sense of it all. There is no shoe-horning, I'm basically giving an assessment on where dividing lines probably should be. If you have a different vision well feel free to make your poll if you wish.
The only generations I constructed were Rock and Roll generation and Millenials 2 and to me they both make sense. Rock and Roll generation enters into high school with Rock and Roll and thats a major generation break with the concept of the teenager as a separate entity. Interestingly, nearly all the great 60's Rock music icons were born in the Rock and Roll micro-generation. M2 is about where the '92-'96 group enters high school with social media making an impact, again, I think thats a major development and probably a big reason why your generation feels different from the 90's Millenials. The 1992-1996 Millenials (Zennials?) seem caught between 2 generations like any other micro-generation. Again, many sources have the major generations starting where I have them placed. But you don't switch major generations overnight!
Generation Jones
Generation Jones 2
But probably the best article I've seen on Generation Jones is called "Not MYGeneration" by The Chronicle of Higher Education, it explains the division. Couldn't link it.
Links above are a more liberal view of Generation Jones than mine (2nd one even includes 8-track tapes that the Shadow Boomers had), it includes the Shadow Boomers (1955-1959), I've always felt Shadow boomers were a bit of a break off from classic Boomers (1945-1954) because they were too young for 'Nam and Woodstock, but they remember the late 60's well and they always worshipped original classic Rock, many Shadow Boomers seemed to embrace Disco like Boomers, but we didn't and we were too young for the clubs then anyways....so I think the 1955-1959 group are still Boomers. They did not grow up with technology like we did.
Basically put, Generation Jones knows the 1980's like Xennials (or Oregon Trail Generation) knew the 1990's......inside and out. Those from Generation Jones never reached their 30's until 1990.
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