1968
This thing called Rock and Roll had become mainstream. Not elevator music mainstream, or Challenge Butter commercial mainstream, but every kid was letting his hair grow and learning to play guitar. Instead of a red Ryder BB Gun for Christmas; It was a Silver Tone guitar from the Sears Catalog. These kids dressed in flamboyant paisley clothing, and some college drop outs took to communism. The outcasts that had no guidance or the grades to go to college went to a hot place called Vietnam. But 1968 was a year before Woodstock and a year after the Summer of Love. Many young kids who were born in 1950 were confused. Should I be a hero like my dad was in Korea or the Beaches of Normandy, or should I sing “Give Peace a Chance” and shout at the White House: “Hell no we won’t go”
1975
This thing called Rock and Roll was still not main stream but it was becoming as profitable as the Military Industrial Complex. In the summer of 1975, a handsome Brit nobody had ever heard of (He was the other guy in the rock band Humble Pie whom most Americans only heard of after this young man toured America). When Peter Frampton started touring America on the coat tails of David Cassidy, his “Frampton Comes Alive” album became the biggest selling LIVE album of all time. It changed this thing called Rock and Roll forever. This thing called Rock and Roll became a Multimillion dollar Industry. In 1975 another young Brit guitarist name Brian May was a year away from getting his degree in Astrophysics. He dropped out and spent the next 12 years touring with one of history’s most successful Rock Bands ever ~ Queen! “These kids today”.
1981
August 1st, A new TV Channel changed this thing called Rock and Roll forever. MTV did indeed kill the Radio Star. So ugly musicians were no longer players as music had become a beauty contest with a soundtrack. In 1981 we saw the beginning of the neo-con movement. The leftist mainstream media was coming out with TV shows that put down the Yuppie. The Hippie form the 60’s was either a failure or a faculty member at UC Berkeley.
Now the Country was seeing the rise of the Yuppie. This was a reverse paradigm from the 60s. Just as Bob Dylan’s folk music was being replaced by songs like Bohemian Rhapsody, young high school kids about to graduate were watching sitcoms like Family Ties which had a young High School kid (played by Michael J. Fox) who was supposed to be liberal Hollywood’s conservative antagonist. But times were changing and making big money was becoming to the 19 – 25 demographics. Shows like Miami vice showed young guys driving Lamborghinis in cool white linen blazers. So in the 80s, there was this polarization of the kids of the 80s. Soon the 80s became known as the decade of greed. (by Hollywood) Yet Family Ties’ ratings soared. It made a mega-star out of Michael J. Fox who went on to do Spielberg’s “Back to the future” Trilogy. Hair was getting shorter and bands like “Huey Lewis and the News” were sporting business cuts.
One real game changer that kids of the 80s had to deal with was the true birth of technology. (And cool Sneakers)
1994
These kids had come to a true bifurcation in the road. It was the biggest polarizing era for “These kids today”. Not only did you have to learn English and math, but you now had to learn something called HTML Yes the computer ushered in the new age. I’m not talking about meditation and gurus or as they’re called now: “Personal coaches”. But this thing called the Internet. The internet has been one of, if not the biggest “game changer” in this country. The internet and the computer divided America into two groups. Those who were computer literate and those who couldn’t tell how to boot up a system. But when the internet got large enough so that kids could play games with other kids in other states or even countries, it was an incentive for kids to take the time to learn how to configure systems and move to the next level in evolution. On the other hand, those who were not incentivized by the new one eyed monster had something new to steal. If you didn’t have computer skills let alone a computer; you were an outcast. This was OK for grandma and maybe Rock Stars that were never sober enough to understand code. But the Internet would change life as the world knew it. The first casualty of the internet era were record stores. The biggest casualty of the internet was the post office as advanced countries shifted over to Email. Newspapers and TV reporting has been replaced the “blogosphere”. Hardly any home has the old fashion “Land line”. And the mall is now just a risky place to hang out as you can buy all the cool stuff on the “net”. I ask you: “what will become of our society if we have a coronal mass ejection the likes of a Carrington Event or some 3rd world fanatical country is able to explode a nuke in our atmosphere causing an electro magnetic pulse”?
2007
These kids of today and their gadgets. On June 29th 2007 Apple released the first IPhone. Also known as the smart phone, this was a “Pocket computer” as well as a telephone. The wireless home phone of the 70s became the car phone that only the wealthy could afford in the 80s. In the 90s, companies like Nokia introduced a phone that was “Mobile”. They were originally called PCDs, or personal communication devices. Since they operated within cell towers, they were called “Cell phones”. This enabled business people to call the office without buying the car phone or step out into the hall to check for messages at the office. As the price of cell phone technology came down, everybody had to have a cellphone.
Apple took the technology of the computer and miniaturized it so it would fit into the palm of your hand. Now, not only could you call the office but you could check this new thing called Email. The evolution of the Cell Phone turned it into what became the smart phone. It became a computer that you carried in your shirt pocket. Although the smart phone revolutionized information in the 21st century, another “creature” was spawned. Social Media. Social media has been used by political campaigns as well as terrorists to organize attacks. Along with social media came a new device called texting. It was a way to send a short sentence to someone else who had texting capabilities on their phone. As convenient as texting can be, it has been responsible for thousands of deaths. Studies show that texting while driving is more dangerous than driving drunk. But it doesn’t stop at driving. Kids and adults can’t help but read texts messages while walking across the street or walking in a parking lot. If both driver and pedestrian are texting, well, you do the math.
As much as technology has influenced the evolution of man, silently it is doing more to de-evolution mankind. People no longer know how to write using complete words. IDK about these kids today. If ur 1 of doz dat git dis; I feel sorry 4U. These kids of today.
One last observation. In China they have computer gaming parlors. They’re much like the Japanese Pachinko parlors and part casino only you don’t win. In the last three weeks, on two separate occasions, adults, one 32 and one 39 died while going on a three day “Gaming” binge. It’s a new phenomenon, my guess is they had pulmonary embolisms that caused their heart attacks.
Ace's Cafe Americain 