From the bookPreface
One of the great stories of the dawn of the new millennium will
be the ascendancy to power of the Net Generation.
More than 88 million strong, these youngsters are the biggest
demographic group in the United States and Canada. The oldest of this
generation are now entering the labor market, bringing with them their
profoundly different notions of work, reward, responsibility, and
collaboration. Soon this generation will be assuming positions of
growing influence in the business, political, and cultural arenas. Their
comfort with the new media, and their mastery at its exploitation,
guarantees that this generation will be an increasingly powerful voice
in all debates. Ultimately, of course, it will become the dominant voice
-- dominating the 21st century.
Since writing the book I have continued to meet new youngsters and learn
from them. One is 16-year-old Michael Furdyk, who worked on
growingupdigital.com. Michael and several collegues of his have
developed their own Net environment -- the mydesktop.com network, which
evaluates and discusses technology (http://www.mydesktop.com). Their
site receives 20 million hits per month, making this group more
influential on the Web than many Fortune 500 companies, many
national governments, and many media empires.
Michael embodies one of the book's central points. For the first time in
history youth are an authority on an innovation central to society's
development. We can learn from him and his generation. And they are an
unprecedented force for change.
We wonder how big e-commerce will be? How fast will technology change
the schools, firms, governments, society? It's as if we've all been
sitting on the beach wondering what kind of day it's going to be -- and
no one noticed the tsunami just off the horizon.
Imagine being Michael's teacher. He and his generation know more about
arguably the most important development in learning ever.
Imagine being Michael's employer. Michael has grown up in a culture of
innovation, collaboration, and networking, which will replace the
culture of the traditional firm.
Imagine Michael as a consumer. He'll purchase his first car online.
He'll shop for many things -- from groceries to his first mortgage -- on
the Net. He'll change our thinking about the brand, advertising, the
establishment of prices, and most of what is known about merchandising.
Imagine Michael as a citizen. Will he settle for our current models of
democracy and citizen participation?
Overall, reaction to the book has been very heartening, with positive
reviews and best-seller sales. The book was Amazon.com's first-ever best
seller in nonfiction. It has been the focus of many newspaper and
magazine articles and radio and television shows. The book has been
translated (or is in the process of being translated) into 14 languages.
One pleasant surprise is that tens of thousands of teachers and
educators have bought the book. I have received many e-mails describing
how it is being used as the basis for changing a class or school.
Teaching is becoming a less unidirectional process and much more
collaborative and heuristic. The feedback I am getting tells me that
teachers view this as a more stimulating and satisfying model.
Since writing the book I've heard many tales of students and teachers
working together to implement technology in the classroom and more
important new models of learning.