Today's youth is known by a few names, Linksters, Generation Z, iGen among others. With so many living generations in America and the rapidly evolving technology, many Americans have had very different experiences as children. Here are six struggles kids today will never know.
- Settling an argument without Google -Who has the most hits for the Astros all-time? What's the most popular food in America? Who won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1987? Before search engines and smart phones, families and friends would argue these topics. Now with a glance at our phones we know the answers are Craig Biggio, bread and "Platoon."
- How difficult it was to get your favorite music -Kids today will never have to wait for their favorite song to come on the radio to record it to a tape or know the heartbreak of scratching your favorite CD.
- The agony of dial-up internet or no internet at all -By the time the internet finished dialing up you could've made a snack, done your homework and taken a nap. That is if you could sleep through all that noise.
- Even watching TV/ movies has gotten easier -We're not just talking about remotes and more channels. Kids today will never have to watch the TV Guide channel or just accept that they missed an episode and it's gone forever.
- Homework used to involve a lot more work -They won't have to learn the Dewey Decimal System or squint at microfiche.
- The more stressful side of vacation -Mom and dad will never be fighting about asking for directions because they can just use the GPS in their phones.
-They'll never be left wondering the lyrics to a song because the booklet in front of the CD case only has the song titles.
-They also don't have to beg their parents to drive to the record store to buy concert tickets or albums.
-They also don't have the fun family argument to get off the internet so someone could use the phone.
-Facebook has been available since before they were old enough to use it so they never even had to offend their friends when choosing their MySpace Top 8.
-They'll also never be crushed when Blockbuster runs out of the movie they want to rent, or when they accidentally spoil the movie when someone wasn't kind and didn't rewind.
-Let's not forget the struggle of somewhat recognizing an actor, but not being able to know who it was until after the show/movie and only then if you could read the credits quickly.
-They've never done homework without a search engine. Remember Ask Jeeves?
-Their parents also don't have to schlep to the store to get photos developed.
-A good portion of their trip funds won't go to travel agents and they wont have to judge a book by its cover when it comes to choosing a hotel, car rental service or restaurant. They can just check the online reviews.