Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Internet impact, 8 April 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
To produce `Grown Up Digital' author Don Tapscott gathered contributions from numerous researchers, consultants, coordinators, administrators etc. with inputs from academia, business, politics etc. He even relied on his own children and their friends, and he created his own version of `Facebook' to collect information and to test assumptions. All this results in a very interesting, informative and thought provoking assessment of `Net Geners' (11 to 30 year olds) and their influence in changing the world. Tapscott identifies and repeatedly relates his narrative to eight characteristics of the `Net Generation' - freedom, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaboration, entertainment, speed and innovation. In doing so insights are provided to how these are changing the nature of family, consumerism, education, work, government etc. with a culture of control replaced by a culture of enablement. Supporting his solid scientific text-book approach Tapscott's easily readable style and readily understandable parables exemplify and explain his fact finding studies, his examination and analysis, and his results and conclusions. Tapscott states "if you understand the `Net Generation' you will understand the future". `Grown Up Digital' will certainly help - but it is not a panacea.
Most of today's parents and grandparents are amazed and pleased at how, immersed in digital technology and without any inhibitions, their offspring intuitively deal with videos, computers, games consoles, cell-phones etc. Don Tapscott's adoration and exaltation is at a much higher level. Everyone recognises that internet capabilities and complementary technological advances are proceeding at an exponential rate, yet many of the characteristics identified for `Net Geners' may be accounted for via generational evolution. Tapscott appears to invest too deeply into his own studies, and though he warns of cyber bullying, on-line predators, internet plagiarism etc. he avoids confrontation with a possible opinion on the young as a self-destruction generation embracing drugs, violence etc. Other examples with alternative perspectives include viewing political participation as a citizenship issue; or job decision-making as an attitude of mind - instead of linking everything to the internet. There needs to be a better balance. Tapscott's view is not of a truly representative cross-section of society but seems too narrowly focused on a privileged level of the population in an affluent part of the world where all `Net Geners' appear professional and largely restricted to the service sector of the economy. Without doubt Don Tapscott is sincere but he has become too emotionally involved, and he is determined to see only virtue in `Net Geners' and he gives credit for too much power. He claims to show readers how the `Net Generation' is changing the entire world - but more accurately it shows how `Net Geners' are changing their own part of it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating but flawed, 27 Jun 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
A fascinating and very relevant topic, particularly as electronic publishing is becoming more mainstream (since the publication of this book, Arnold Schwarzneger has "terminated the textbook" apparently, in favour of e-texts for this very generation!).
My view on this book comes from two perspectives - first of all, a member of this so-called 'net generation'. And secondly, as a publisher thinking about how people want to buy and use content. So I read it while thinking 'is this me?' and also thinking 'what can I make of this commercially?'. The answer, unfortunately, was - not a lot. With that said, I felt that it would be a very interesting introduction to the topic for somebody who didn't know much about how people use digital media.
I found the topic very interesting, and a lot of the content is fascinating - but I was rather put off by the preponderance of anecdotal evidence. I found myself a bit irritated by being lumped in with this '11-30' age bracket, when personally I find there is a huge difference even between my own habits (I am 26) and those of my younger sister, who is 23 - totally driven by the technologies she's grown up with. I'm not convinced by this book, particularly 9 months on from publication when I think it's already sounding dated. Interesting - but I will hold out for a better book on the topic that offers a more nuanced view. Or perhaps what I am looking for is more likely to be found on blogs and web pages... who knows.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
heavy on anecdotes, light on analysis, 28 Jan 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
This is the first vine book I couldn't finish. I suspect that this is intended as as a reference for 'baby boomers' who are marketers for a living.
I normally love this kind of book, the sociological effects of technology is normally my kind of thing.
But this breathless praise of the 'Net generation' (11-30 year olds), just struck me as special pleading. The attributes he insisted that were particular to this generation just struck me as universal preferences, for example, flexible working - I don't imagine that an employee is in favour of inflexible working! At one point he describes his son's technical brilliance, while all the boy seems to be doing is operating an Apple Mac!
The technical nous he ascribes to the net gen seems vastly overstated, there are generational differences, but I suspect the division between rich and poor is much more significant.
The The Future Just Happened and Here Comes Everybody are far superior to this.
Avoid! (Unless you're a clueless marketer over the age of 60).
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