Looking at the names of the artists in the Rock section I had the sudden realization that I'm not part of the generation that listens to current Rock music (I didn't recognize half the artists!). I'm getting old...
I tend to keep up with anything that is interesting and well done. For the most part, there is very little in current mainstream rock that is either one, let alone both. Not that I'm claiming "music was better in my day", because I can remember a whole lot of crap from my childhood as well. But musical trends do to in cycles, and there will be peaks and valleys in the availability of really good music. Right now we're in a valley, with all the lame, talentless, cookie-cutter hip-hop, nu-metal, pop-industrial, corp-rock "alterna", and so on. Same sort of valley that preceeded the birth of Punk/New Wave and Grunge. It's generally related to the control of the music industry by big conglomerates and their refusal to releaase anything outside of the same trite formula. It's generally followed shortly by an explosion of indie labels and "underground" bands (like Stiff Records in the '70s, SubPop in the '80s) I expect they'll be another major shakeup before much longer. It's pretty much already starting, but through self-publishing and Internet distribution. The death of MP3.com set it back a few years, but it's still chugging right along.
Since I participate in technology as a hobby and as part of my employment, I hope I'm still capable of dealing with it in a few decades! However, I recognize that at some point other priorities may take over and I will no longer keep current - and I'll be come an AOL user!
The main thing that seperates the stereotypical idiot AOL user from those who have a clue has nothing to do with age, or necessarily even native intelligence. It is simply the
willingness to learn. During the years I did tech support I encountered plenty of idiot lusers, AOL and otherwise, young and old. I also encountered a number of older users who actually had a clue what they were doing, and weren't complete 'tards when it came to technology. It really has nothing to do with age. Hell, my dad never touched a computer in his life until his 50s, then after getting laid off (from Boeing), he spent the next couple years going back to school, and ended up with an MCSE. Have another friend, now in his 50s, who has been a technophile all his life. He's a moderately well-known local nature photographer, and has always embraced new photographic technology, and has kept up with the "digital revolution" (though not become a gadget-head, fortunately), and tends to use a mix of old and new technology, depending on what he's doing.
One caller I was attempting to help with a technical issue stated in one quite clear and succinct phrase exactly what was wrong with her and nearly everyone else like her I've ever had to deal with: "I don't want to learn about this stuff, I just want it to do what I need it to do". An exact quote that has stuck in my head ever since. There's a certain conservative mindset that thinks that the level of education and technology that they experienced as a young adult is all they will ever need to know for the rest of their life. So not only do they not bother to seek out any further education, but they actively resist learning anything new. "I've been this way all my life, and I'm not gonna change now."
This is why we have polititians and citizens' groups trying to dumb the entire 'Net down to a primary-school level. It's easier to legislate against "obscenity" than it is to learn how the technology works, to use it effectively, and to monitor their own childrens' use of it.
And it's not like skeptics are immune to that sort of fossilization of thinking. It's just a short step from skeptic to crank, as certain individuals here have ably demonstrated.
