ANALOG VS. DIGITAL GENERATIONS
Posted by Tim Bryce on October 4, 2013
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– Which one are you?
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We’ve all heard about “The Greatest Generation,” “the Baby Boomers,” and Generations X, Y, and Z. These are all labels used to describe and contrast the characteristics of the various age groups of people. I’ve used it myself in my writings to describe the behavior of different classes of workers, but recently I had someone in an Internet Discussion group tell me there was a easier way of differentiating people, namely Analog versus Digital. I found the description to be simple, yet profound, in terms of differentiating people. To illustrate:
| ANALOG GENERATION
understands… |
DIGITAL GENERATION
understands… |
|---|---|
| Super 8mm movies | DVD’s |
| Turntables, 45s & LPs | CD’s |
| Rotary telephones | Cell phones, iPhones, and BlackBerrys |
| Rotating knobs for Radio-TV tuners | Radio-TV Scanners and remote controls |
| Clamation and cartoon animation | Pixar Animation |
| Black and white TV | High-Definition TV |
| Magnetic Tape | Flash drives and memory sticks |
| Carburetors | Electronic fuel injection |
| Cash | Electronic banking |
| Monitors | Flat screens |
| VHS and BETA | MP3, WMV, MPG, AVI |
| Cards, Monopoly, Chess and Checkers | Video Games |
| Land Line | Wireless |
| Rand McNally | GPS, Mapquest |
These comparative lists could go on and on, but basically, under this approach you are not differentiated by age, but by how well you have adapted to technology, and there appears to be a lot of truth in this. Those people shopping for jobs acutely understand this. On your resume it is becoming more important to list the technology you are familiar with as opposed to your command of the English language, or your understanding of business and management. In other words, the person who is proficient in the use of MS Office or Adobe Photoshop stands a better chance of being hired than someone who possesses good business and communications skills. This is like being rewarded for your skill in the use of a calculator as opposed to your basic comprehension of math.
The point is, we are defined more by our ability to assimilate with our technology than by age or any other factor. This emphasis on technology is another indicator that the human being is being subliminally programmed, not just the computers and equipment we use.
A lot of people are unsure as to which generation they belong to. I guess the best way to discern whether you are of one generation or the other is whether you can competently program a cell phone or change the clock in your automobile. If you rely on a son or daughter to program it, you’re probably Analog.
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
For Tim’s columns, see: timbryce.com
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Copyright © 2013 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
NEXT UP: THE ATTRIBUTES OF A TOUGH TASK MASTER – Who cracks the whip, and how?
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Tim Bryce said
A K.S. of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma wrote…
“I feel that I am stuck between two generations!”
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Tim Bryce said
A B.H. of Boulder, Colorado wrote…
“I must be schizophrenic or something. I started out in the analog world – in fact, I was in graduate school in the 70’s when the digital world started up in earnest. I started in ham radio with tubes, dials, knobs, and such. I’m still in the “game” so to speak, and not only can I program or use an analog device (because I still have them) I can do the same with the digital equivalents (I have a smart phone, computers, CD/DVD players, etc.
Heck, I even still have the HP45 scientific calculator my late wife bought me in 1973 to help with homework (it still works) AND my slide rule that students of that era carried with them “just in case” the batteries failed or the calculators died.
One thing I learned in the “analog” world of EE is, as the digital world works their way to faster and faster speeds (in the GHz), the behavior of the circuits becomes more accurately modeled by analog rules. And, because we pretty much curtailed or stopped teaching analog techniques years ago, there’s no one around except us old retirees and grey-beards that remembers all that stuff…so in many ways, the newer generation is reinventing the wheel, so to speak.”
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Alton Walston said
There is one major difference between Analog and Digital: Analog is infinite and digital is stepped. In other words Analog can move between numbers and digital cannot. You can break down digital in to micro or even nano seconds but analog can still go between the.
Digital is like going up steps and analog is like going up a ramp. Digital is nice for quick things but being my age I kinda like the ramp. LOL Keeping the faith, Regards ole Blake
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THE ATTRIBUTES OF A TOUGH TASK MASTER « THE BRYCE IS RIGHT! said
[…] ANALOG VS. DIGITAL GENERATIONS […]
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Milovan said
The evolution in technology is not in direct proportion to the evolution of humanity. Human evolution is not a linear process but rather cyclical.
The most of us believes that each human generation is more advanced that previous one, having the ability to use more advancing technologies, but there is no guaranties that the user of a new technology is more advanced than a previous generation (e.g. monkey if you believe in Darwinism). Just consider the usage of the nuclear technology at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and ask yourself if a user of the new technology is more close to monkey or human.
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