We actually had PONG, that's how old school things were where I grew up.  My Dad was in data processing, and they had a Watts line and I thought it was fascinating that you could call anywhere in the country for free as everyone was always talking about the high cost of making LD calls; how times have changed.  They had just started running computer "programs" with the equipment he used at work - the servers were HUGE and were all in a very giant room, wall to wall like 40 of them.  When you wanted to run a program, you had to put these big stacks of punch cards ("IBM cards") through the machine and it would run the program based off the punch cards.  All our scratch paper my entire childhood was IBM punch cards, which were everywhere in my house.

 

I remember checking the White Album out of the library when I was little and copying it to tape.  And yes, it was the actual vinyl album, tape was pretty new.  I had all kinds of 45 records like Anne Murray and Leo Sayer and my first vinyl album that I purchased with my allowance was a Queen record.

Transformers and Nirvana were not really pitched towards the same age range, so it's no surprise that you remember 80's cartoons and 90's hard rock.

 

BTW, Atari 800XL rocks! I no longer have one, but I do have an emulator for my PC.

 

Oh sure, i am just commenting on the fact that i associate more with the movies and tv shows from when i was younger than the ones from the 90s...where as my music tastes didn't develop until hard rock/grunge came out.

 

I need to get the 800XL set up...i'm not even sure that the floppies still work.

Recent twitter post by Mark S.

 

"I was in a mixed marriage: Gen X and Boomer."

I've got a boxed Atari 400 at my store -- thinking of firing it up and using it as a demo once the store opens.

I fit in more with that Generation Jones concept.  Nominally a baby boomer, but also the generation that gave you punk/new wave/early alternative.

 

 

^Right, I don't think of say, Metallica (most members born in 1963) and other thrash metal or punk bands with members around that age as Boomers. They detested most of the things that Boomers represented in the '60s and '70s such as hippies, disco, Volkswagens and suburbs. They also didn't really match Generation X's drollness and self-loathing characteristics.

 

The whole metal, fast cars and mullets thing came out of the '60-'67 generation. The Badasses.

I like it. The Badasses generation.

 

I'm firmly ensconsed in Generation X. Born in 71, Came of age in the 80's, loathed the 90's, and I'm effervescently sarcastic. They said my generation would have 6 different careers in our lifetime. I'm on 3 so far. We'll see if it holds true....

 

The whole metal, fast cars and mullets thing came out of the '60-'67 generation. The Badasses.

 

You described my uncle and his friends to a T. Born exactly around that time, too. They always wear blue jeans with a black (Heavy Metal or Hard Rock) concert t shirt; spends his spare time hanging out at biker bars or in his garage with his friends - rebuilding engines or pranking local truck drivers on a CB radio. He's pretty conservative; refuses to leave the west side of the city and probably still rocks the mullet or at least has long hair; I haven't seen him in a couple years.

 

I think the whole mullet thing is a little funny and ridiculous but him and his friends are definitely some of the coolest people I know. I listen to a wide range of music because of 'em.

okay, just sayin'...

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-millennials-well-educated-but-unskilled/

 

By AIMEE PICCHI MONEYWATCHMarch 13, 2015, 5:30 AM

 

America's Millennials: Well educated but unskilled

 

Bad news ahead for the American workforce: Its Millennial generation is flunking the basics.

 

Americans born after 1980 are lagging their peers in countries ranging from Australia to Estonia, according to a new report from researchers at the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The study looked at scores for literacy and numeracy from a test called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, which tested the abilities of people in 22 countries.

 

The results are sobering, with dire implications for America. It hints that students may be falling behind not only in their early educational years but at the college level. Even though more Americans between the ages of 20 to 34 are achieving higher levels of education, they're still falling behind their cohorts in other countries. In Japan, Finland and the Netherlands, young adults with only a high school degree scored on par with American Millennials holding four-year college degrees, the report said.

I think GE moving its HQ to Boston is a real indicator of just how long-term this shift back to urban areas has become.

 

APR 8, 2016 @ 11:09 AM 787 VIEWS

How To Hire A Millennial

By Joseph Fuller

 

General Electric isn’t moving to Boston’s waterfront for the views, however breathtaking they may be.

 

In the increasingly fierce battle for millennial talent, GE’s decision to uproot its long-time headquarters from suburban Connecticut is nothing less than a capitulation to an emerging business reality. For GE, leafy Stamford was simply too hard a sell to make to increasingly urban millennials, who not only prefer to live in cities like Boston, San Francisco and New York, but are willing to make employment decisions based on location. So GE is moving the mountain to Mohammed.

 

There are a number of key aspects of the old deal offered by companies that simply aren’t as compelling to the rising generation born after 1981 as they were to their boomer parents: full-time work in a traditional office environment, gradual advancement, a retirement plan and other benefits, along with life in a picturesque suburb.

 

Instead, global workplace surveys portray a generation that yearns for more flexible work arrangements and prioritizes work-life balance over career progression. Millennials want to advance quickly and are keenly interested in professional development, but they are also less loyal in the traditional sense, ready to jump ship when their employers fail to meet expectations.

 

Yet too many companies are falling short in their efforts to recruit the best and brightest young minds. Most try to convince skeptical millennials of the merits of their company; others pay lip service to their concerns by making superficial policy changes. Companies struggling to recruit millennials should consider GE’s example of bold action and completely rethink the packages they are offering to attract young talent.

 

Certainly an urban location is a magnet for the young and upwardly mobile. But as crucial, if not more so, are the flexible work arrangements, meaningful mentorship programs, and sense of mission that millennials crave.

 

CONTINUED

http://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2016/04/08/how-to-hire-a-millennial/#6fc7c4ac73da