Internet Children

A couple of months ago, I posted this photo of Noah. We took an old laptop (and I mean *old* — the screen is hanging on by one hinge, and it won’t close anymore) and installed the latest edubuntu load on it. For those not familiar with it, edubuntu is an educational version of the ubuntu Linux operating system. It comes with a variety of educational games and puzzles for kids, and that, combined with PBSkids.org, is about all you need to keep a three-year-old happy for an hour or so each day.

Noah has already gotten remarkably proficient at using a mouse, and knows how to type his own name to login. So beyond the computer skills he is learning, I spent some time reflecting on what it means for my child to be on the Internet now. He will grow up never knowing a world without the Internet. That is not terribly unique, of course, there are a lot of teenagers running around now that fit that description. But the internet he grows up with will be vastly bigger, more advanced, and presumably more sophisticated.

I can’t even imagine what the technology will look like when he is my age. But my kids, and the kids of their generation, are the ones that will build that technology. They will stand on the shoulders of the giants that preceded them and change the world. Not all of that change will be good, but I look forward to seeing what my little ones will contribute.