Techno savvy

I recently read a story that discussed the technological savvy of the children who are a few years younger than the current Millennial Generation. Some researchers are tentatively calling them the iGeneration, since they have literally never known a time in which there was no instant messaging, no email, no Internet, etc.

I think William is a little too young to be considered part of the iGeneration, at least officially. But in spirit, he is right there. We have regular tussles over who gets to use the iPod Touch each morning. I like to check email and the weather after I wake up, but he's right there with his hand out. He wants to check the weather too--and watch a few scenes of either "Monsters Inc" or "Wall-E," both of which are loaded onto the device. Or listen to some music. Or play the Star Wars trench run game that his daddy downloaded for himself to play but which has captivated William.

And of course, I think I've already mentioned that William regularly speaks to his grandparents via Skype on the computer. He knows how to navigate the software, adjust the setting so that the video feed works, and make and end calls.

So it should come as no surprise to any of us, I guess, that today William informed me that he and his friends have a website for their favorite playground game, which they call "Bad Guys." William claims that he created the website. "There are lots of different episodes and videos," he tells me. "There's a game called Capture the Treasure." According to my son, there is a castle on the playground, and that's where the Bad Guys keep their computer, and of course, that's where the Bad Guys website is. Also, there are links to the PBS Kids websites, seeing as how William is a big fan of many of those already and likes to log onto the computer (by himself, natch) and play them. So I think I know where the Bad Guys website idea came from.

Geez. And when I was 3, the most technologically complex thing in our whole house was probably our rotary dial phone.