The 2007 Mindset List

Feel a little older as you see what the class of 2010 has never known or has always had. These are the kids mostly born in 1988. This is the list compiled every year since 1998 by Beloit College. Some items from the list:

• The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
• "Google" has always been a verb.
• Madden has always been a game, not a Superbowl-winning coach.
• Reality shows have always been on television.
• Bad behavior has always been getting captured on amateur videos.
• Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.

A hat tip to The Kept-Up Academic Librarian.

Update note (8/24/06): Walt Crawford, of Walt at Random, points out some "interesting" inconsistencies with the list (ok, it's things wrong with the list. I am just being polite). I will admit that the first time I saw the list, I did not think much of it, and it seemed a fun link to make. However, this afternoon, I was looking over the list again, and I saw their line about "they have only known two presidents." I read that line, and I said, "wait a sec. That does not sound right. Since '88, we've had Bush, Sr., Clinton (who served two terms), and Bush, Jr. (the current executive), which makes three presidents, not two." It was at that point of saying to myself "wtf?" that I came across Walt's post and got a sense of relief that "whew, it's not just me." Walt also points out that Google was not around until September 1998 (here is their corporate history); I guess by now we take Google for granted, so we don't always recall it has not been around that long. Let this be a lesson to always evaluate what you find online.