How Computers Transformed Baby Boomers

theodp writes "Newsweek's Steven Levy takes a look at how the baby boomer generation formed our tech landscape. Many of the realities boomers grew up with are today's metaphors, including cut-and-paste, the origin of which the 56-year-old Levy had to explain to 20-something Google employees. Levy cites two texts as crucial in pushing the boomers' vision toward power-to-the-people computing — Ted Nelson's Computer Lib/Dream Machines, which inspired Mitch Kapor, and the January 1975 Popular Electronics, which got Bill Gates jazzed. You kids might want to check out Dad's bookshelf — used copies of Computer Lib are going for $130-$225 at Amazon."

I've got a copy

[SiliconEntity]

I had no idea that CL/DM was selling for so much. I just checked my shelf, I bought a copy for $18.95 in 1992 at the local university bookstore - the sticker's still on it.

I wonder why it's so expensive? The book is terrible, virtually unreadable. Ted Nelson is a nutcase by all reports. Look at the repeated failures of his Xanadu idea.

I guess I should probably sell it; it has no value to me and $150-200 would be pretty nice.

I've got history.

[Anonymous Coward]

"I wonder why it's so expensive? The book is terrible, virtually unreadable"

History is expensive.

"Ted Nelson is a nutcase by all reports."

So is a certain zealot.

"Look at the repeated failures of his Xanadu idea."

The price one pays for being too far ahead. At least it's inspiring some people out there.

As a member of "Visionless" let me say ...

[Anonymous Coward]

"I can't wait until they all go on medicare/social security so I can pick up a second job to pay for it."

Spoken as someone with limited vision. The health care industry is going to explode. Plus a lot of them will have disposable income. You can either get your slice, or wait for overseas/immigrants to get it first.

Re:As a member of "GenX" let me say ...

[Seumas]

Someone has recently been playing around with the generation age-frames, because almost ten years ago, baby boomers were between 50 and 60 already. Now, baby boomers include anyone who is 42 to 64. That's right. 42 is a baby boomer, apparently (shouldn't that be generation X?). I'm also now defined as a "generation Xer" even though five years ago, I was considered several years too young.

Old Computer Books Sell Well

[yintercept]

Unless the writer has access to the sales history, it shouldn't have said that the books are going at going at $150-200. The books are simply listed at that price.

The big prices show something that is true of a large number of computer books. When the books are out of print they can shoot way up in price. Often you will find some poor schmuck having to support a legacy program and they are willing to spend a good deal of money on used books.

If you happen to have computer books for older versions of software that you no longer need, you can often sell the used book for more than you bought it.

One way of playing the Amazon used book game is to list all of the out of print books you are willing to part with at a price some 25% higher than the going sale price. You wait, and every once in a while a book will sell and you will ge money for more computer books.

Generation Y

[jeremiahbell]

I'm a 24 year-old they called part of generation Y. The funny part about the older generation is they somehow assume that the younger is clueless about something because they've never done it themselves. Cut and Paste is pretty simple, and I have done it, my whole generation did it in school.

And the internet and computers have not changed my simple life all that much from my fathers. Yes, I post on an internet discussion, but: I get up in the morning, get in my EFI ran car, but for the end user its not that much different than a carburetor, and drive to work. At work I'm the desk guy at a shop, Yes I use the computer to do invoices, but I could just as well do it on paper, and then I drive home. My house doesn't greet me, and I still eat regular meals. You could take someone from thirty years ago and dump them right into today and they would have no problem. Go back a hundred years and they might have a problem, considering that my grandfather rode a mule to school (He's 83), but even he can run his DVD player.

Re:I call "B.S." on the "cut-and-paste" example...

[vic-traill]

I call B.S. on this one. Anyone dumb enough not to figure out where "cut and paste" came from doesn't deserve a job (must less a promotion to second grade).

Well, I can't speak to 20-something google employees, but when I acquired a 1930's Underwood typewriter a couple of years ago, the 12 year old son of a friend looked at it and asked what it was. I asked him what it looked like, and he replied that it looked something like a keyboard. He didn't know what a typewriter was.

Admittedly the kid is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I suspect that he's reasonably representative of his peer group.

Now that I think about it, the second graders might do better than a 12 year old. They're not heading into that teen recalcitrant thing and their imagination hasn't been spiked yet.

Re:I call "B.S." on the "cut-and-paste" example...

[TheRaven64]

Speaking as a 20-something Slashdot reader, I can almost see the scene. It's not that the person would not have been familiar with physical cut and paste operations (at the very least, they'd have done them at school), but a lot of people seem very bad at connecting related things.

My pet peeve is UNIX programmers who don't understand the origin of the fork() system call. You can't properly understand a system unless you understand why it was designed the way it was.

Re:Generation X

[dharmadove]

I'm 51, a boomer and would have to disagree with you totally. Been there, done that. I've been using computers since I was 13 (big iron). Try to take the credit "Gen-X" but that's a joke. I started with an IMSAI, Kim-1, and my first pre built PCs were an Apple-II, TRS-80 and Pet. I've been online since the using ARPNET, Compuserve, email and bbs's since the 70's. Heck, my Dad was using a TRS-80 at home and later a Color Computer by 1982. He was 36 years older than me. Plenty of Apple-II's, TRS-80's, Pets, Atari 400/800's etc. were bought by common folk for a cost SIGNIFICANTLY less than a car before the IBM-5150 came out (the so called "PC"). There was pretty decent market for commodity home computers by then. I've owned ALL of them (and MANY more) since and I am/was not a rich person. Gen X/Y'ers may be reaping the rewards, claming credit but our bucks and acceptance of using technology / science paved the way for your toys...