I consider myself to have grown up with computers. My family got our first computer when I was 8, but I didn’t really start to use it until a couple years later when I convinced my parents to get AOL. My Dad used it for work, but I could finally use it for something I wanted to do: Instant Message. When I consider that I really didn’t really use a computer regularly and make an email account until I was 12, it becomes apparent how much of my youth was lacking computers and the Internet.
I’ve been thinking lately about what it would be like to start from birth with these technologies available. How would it alter one’s view of the world?
I already depend on computers and the Internet for pretty much everything. Between wifi, my laptop, and my phone I am always connected and can have any question answered at any time. However, I missed out on this for almost the first half of my life. This gap greats a learning curve. Older adults often have difficulties understanding the concepts and logic of using a computer. Do I have similar deficiencies because I didn’t start from birth?
While all of these questions were swirling in my head, I came across this video.
It boggles my mind that a child that young could be so competent using the iPad. Admittedly she apparently has experience using an iPhone, but a 2.5 year old cognitively barely has any grasp on language and only has poorly defined concepts. At this age we are extremely limited in our mental abilities and don’t really even realize we can influence humans through communication, let alone computers. Obviously the logic of computer interaction has somehow been absorbed into her just as language and physical limitations of the world are. This is clearly something I missed out on with my late introduction to computers. It’s a first language for her and a second language for me. I’m sure the touch screen of the iPad would come much more easily to a child than a mouse and keyboard, but she definitely has an early start to using computers.
Aside from an early introduction to computers, I am also curious how the Internet shapes the lives and social interactions of slightly older children. Do 7 or 8 year olds have email? Do they ever instant message? What about facebook accounts? I’m sure these answers are obvious to parents, but as a college student I’m a bit cut off from that age group. I know my nephews had a cell phone to share when they were around 7 and 10. If they had cell phones why not Internet lives to match? I’ll have to ask next time I see them.
