Last weekend, I was at a USS swim meet and heard parents and coaches complaining about the "distraction" of many swimmers now. They blame this distraction (in addition to the rise of the boy/girl crazy period) on the advent of cell phones and IM-ing, etc. Apparently, at meets, and I've seen it, the kids spent scads of time on their cells phones, phoning friends, phoning kids across the pool, texting constantly (even to kids 5 feet away). Then they go home and IM for hours, checking and gossiping over the instant meet results and who beat who. Now, all the swimmers seem to know each other because, even if they're not on the same team or live in different states, they now can communicate easily via IM-ing and texting. I heard one coach say he's not sure how to get his swim kids to focus in this new techo-age. Obviously, some kids are focused like lasers, but I see an abundance of chatting and cell phone use too. Would kids do better without cell phones at meets? And is technology distracting them? Some seem to be swimming blazingly fast, but are others not swimming up to their potential because of this?
Great point. I attended a conference at work a couple weeks back about knowledge management. I work for Boeing and obviously data and processes are a huge company asset. Trying to not only store all that information, but also make it easy to dessiminate to others is a major issue. Someone brought up the point that the new-hire "kids," who us grizzled veterans like to think don't know much, are much more proficient at communicating and finding information fast using today's technology then we are. They're the one's who can teach us a thing or two in that regard!
Kirk, that is a great point. We didn't necessarily grow up with all that much, but by the time folks my age were in college, Instant Messaging was by far the most popular (and easiest) way to keep in touch with all our HS buddies. Keeping 5 separate conversations going was certainly a challenge, but it sure advanced my typing skills and speed. That was a huge plus going into the real world any time I needed to churn out long emails or recaps, etc. I was able to write in 15% more detail, tidy up formatting and send it off while my coworkers were still finger-pecking and going back to fix misspellings/typos.
At my new job, they have IM installed on all the machines. Most of the younger crowd uses it a lot, but the bosses are on too.
Right now, I am working on my Treo tying skills. The mini-qwerty is certainly a challenge, but I am getting pretty quick with that too. Gotta get all those meet results emailed to mom ASAP!!!
Great point. I attended a conference at work a couple weeks back about knowledge management. I work for Boeing and obviously data and processes are a huge company asset. Trying to not only store all that information, but also make it easy to dessiminate to others is a major issue. Someone brought up the point that the new-hire "kids," who us grizzled veterans like to think don't know much, are much more proficient at communicating and finding information fast using today's technology then we are. They're the one's who can teach us a thing or two in that regard!
Kirk, that is a great point. We didn't necessarily grow up with all that much, but by the time folks my age were in college, Instant Messaging was by far the most popular (and easiest) way to keep in touch with all our HS buddies. Keeping 5 separate conversations going was certainly a challenge, but it sure advanced my typing skills and speed. That was a huge plus going into the real world any time I needed to churn out long emails or recaps, etc. I was able to write in 15% more detail, tidy up formatting and send it off while my coworkers were still finger-pecking and going back to fix misspellings/typos.
At my new job, they have IM installed on all the machines. Most of the younger crowd uses it a lot, but the bosses are on too.
Right now, I am working on my Treo tying skills. The mini-qwerty is certainly a challenge, but I am getting pretty quick with that too. Gotta get all those meet results emailed to mom ASAP!!!
