Does Apple attach a meaning to that little "i" so pervasive in their product branding? Can we?
I couldn't find anything on the Apple website, but did find an employee claiming in an on-line forum that "when the very first iMac came out in 98’, the “i” stood for “Internet, Individual, Instruct, Inform, and Inspire”.
i-products have evolved and are already much different from their predecessors. How different will today's i-generation of children be than their predecessors (aka parents)? Will their busy brains evolve and be re-wired solely for multi-tasking and short-term thinking? Will they be capable of sustained conversation? Of relationships based on the present and personal?
Observing today's children and youth, causes me to wonder whether this "i" is really a capital "I" as in a new "Me" generation. In a twist on the Me Generation of the 60s, this new self-actualized group is entitled to having everything personally catered to their own individual tastes.
Are we raising Generation Imbecile, marked by un-resourceful people unable to function or navigate without Google on their cell phone? A recent book called "The Dumbest Generation" portends that today's children are already incapable of performing many ordinary tasks of their parents: Tying shoelaces and using an ice cube tray, to name just two. Will kids soon stop learning how to read maps or use a phone book? Will that matter? His book doesn't give much advice.
Maybe the "i" is for Impatient? This one came to me the third time in five minutes that I heard my son ask "Mom, can I play on the iPad now? Or "Insolent" which was the look he gave when I again said "no".
Now comes the time for sharing. What does the "i" in your life stand for?
Being that I am single and have no kids by choice (let's face it, it would never have been a good idea), the "i" in my life should be capitalized and mean "Me". But then again, I don't have the responsibility of setting any kind of example for kids. I don't recommend this to anyone raising kids. You know what you signed up for.
ReplyDeleteLiving up here in the wine country, I occasionally yearn for the buzz & intellectual stimulation you're marinating in down there. I miss that feeling of being in the midst of it (used to live in SF & work in PA)I also worry that come high school, my kids wont have the ambitious kind of peers they would if we lived where you do. It's a competitive world, and if you grow up in an innovation center, you live it.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I do feel this bucolic setting is great for childhood. We have many iDevices, but it's not the local industry. Kids here spend a lot of time in nature.
I rarely let my girls use my computer or iPhone.
They would have no interest at all, except that they see me stealing away (as I am now) to get my fix of what's going on in the world.
If I have the self control to stay unplugged, then they resume their fascination with blocks/drawing/flowers/mud. So I would say in the context of kids, the i stands for inattention.
Gretchen - I love your use of the term "marinating". We really are and I'm not sure how I feel about it.
ReplyDeleteLast fall I saw iPad-toting toddlers at a weekend soccer game and a cub scout meeting. And not the same kid! Just seems wrong. Sounds like your family's "i" still means Imagination which is a good thing.