Website: Mindset List
September 13, 2007 – 5:32 am
My son is 23 years old and, although I can remember his birth like it happened last night, some of the other events from 1984 are a little bit fuzzy. However, thanks to the annual Beloit College Mindset List, I can pull the events of 1984 back into focus. Each year, the college tries to remind us that the world is changing and the members of latest graduating class has a totally different frame of reference for life events than the older generations. The Mindset List also helps us to remember a few other tidbits of information like these little fun facts from 1984:
- Technology analysts questioned the need for briefcase-sized computers. (I’m sure they were thinking, “Who would want to carry a computer that large?” – right?)
- The National Children and Youth Fitness Study announced that children were overweight and underactive. (Thank goodness we paid attention to that warning or 23 years later we would really have some fat kids . . . hey, wait a minute!)
- A CPA organization heralded that computerized audit systems were being used to avoid errors and they were doing much better at spotting mistakes and providing internal audit controls. (I am sure this helped out during the Enron investigation)
- Videotape technology was said to be killing the film industry and slowing cable network development. (Funny, I always thought it was because the movies sucked!)
- Analysts stated there was no market for Direct Broadcast Satellite systems. (Just think, had this been true we wouldn’t have the opportunity to was endless 20 minute news stations, curling matches and . . . movies that suck!)
- The U.S. Supreme Court declared sleeping to be a form of free speech. (Kids today have it made – I always got in trouble for sleeping in class.)
I must admit that I didn’t think the Class of 2011 list was as good as some of the past list but it is still fun to read. It is a great history refresher but it is also useful to realize that those breakdowns in communication may actually be partly due to totally different life experiences. Check it out!