Maxillius

I'll admit, the first one wasn't trolling and the second one was. I'll stop, promise.

Profileclimb

I relate to that the smart phone and tablet are essential for existence.

gerv 

If you have a phone, there's always Uber.

dynodonn 

Our millennial IT at work is continually mentioning to me the many functions that his phone can do, some I use regularly on my smart phone, others I prefer doing old school, such as watching TV, movies, and using the internet on a regular TV and PC.

Artkansas 

Apparently, I don't exist.

Walter S

Or you're a hard-ass that exists without the essentials!

Artkansas 

Like Dark Energy.

Machka 

Me neither!

I have no idea why a person would need a tablet ... I've looked at them, but never found a need or use for one.

SalsaShark

I was born in 1979, and see automobile ownership as a necessary evil. Luckily actually driving the damned thing doesn't happen all that often.

cooker

You can watch Netflix in bed or anywhere in the house. It's a bit more comfortable to hold than a laptop.

Roody

I agree that a tablet is more comfortable than a laptop, and also has a bigger screen than a smart phone.

I also like being able to take unlimited articles and books with me wherever I go. I have a speed-reading app that allows me to read 500 words per minute on the tablet, versus less than 200 in paper format.

Ekdog

I'd like to get a tablet, but I'm saving up for (what else?) another bicycle at the moment.

I do most of my reading on my Kindle Paperwhite. Could you let us know a little more about that speed-reading app, Roody?

wahoonc

I travel... a lot! Having a library of my favorite books that will fit in my back pocket is a comfort to me. I still have many "real" books but I am very limited as to how many of those I can carry and any given time. I also use my tablet for quick internet searches and to browse forums if I have a few minutes of down time.

Aaron

Lone

more than economics, it is technology that is changing the culture of young people. communications and entertainment technology changes the way we interact with others. this technology removes a car as a class symbol from interaction between many people.

I-Like-To-Bike

You must have big back pocket if you can fit a tablet in it. Can you sit down with the tablet in your back pocket?

Lone

unlike 10 years ago, young people are not driving a new mitsubishi eclipse. they are driving customized cars, and fashionable small cars, which is a trend in the right direction.

some people still drive large SUVs. i predict that trends will move away from that sense of style, particularly as cars are automated. self driving cars will be smaller to reduce the price for the new technology. when people are being driven around in self-driving cars, they will not feel like they need a big car to feel better or safer than other people, because they will not feel intimidated or tense driving in traffic. they will also be so lost in their own world of Internet communicatons and entertainment that no one will want to display themselves to the world with loud mufflers or engines.

Pukeskywalker

I was one of the first 400 people on "thefacebook" at school in 2004. Back when you couldn't join if you didn't have a college email account.

These days, wife and I have a tiny hatchback that cost $12,000 new. Scratched, dented, dorky. And we don't care much. We want to drive it until it dies and buy another cheap car.

We bike to work (4 miles) as much as possible, and live in the city. People our age who buy luxury cars and SUVs get made fun of.

Things that killed interest in cars that we grew up around:

- The Fast and The Furious,
- the SUV hype
- Gas prices going to $3 in high school, $4 in college (don't want to deal with that again)
- the push for Hybrids
- student loan debt = nobody wants another $20k on top of it
- internet rendering slimey car-buying experiences more depressing (knowing exactly how much you're ripped off)
- Social media renders "wow cool car" less impressive -- other ways of social bragging like taking international trips carry more weight online
- demographic shift to the city where women care less about you owning a car (what you pick your date up in still matters in the suburbs)
- the hipster thing, saying "i'm car-free" is the new "I don't watch TV" -- goes back to city-living and poor bohemian bicycle-riders getting all the girls ages 21 - 25

The only cars that are going to sell to this demographic are compact kid-carriers. Smaller SUV type cars.

downtube42

Agree wholeheartedly.

Counter to this technology-driven shift, however, is the massive influence of industry to maintain the status quo, through both highly effective advertising and equally effective legislative lobbying. I'm sure blacksmiths who once made nails by hand were plenty unhappy with the invention of nail-making equipment, but they were powerless to do anything. Likewise the farriers and stable keepers were surely not pleased with the model T, but they were unable to stop the change from horse power to engine power.

Today, for example, we have state legislatures passing laws blocking cities from introducing light rail (TN, IN); we are inundated with advertising that equates automobiles with being sexy, successful, adventuresome, individualistic, and free. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the long run.

I-Like-To-Bike

Speaking of "demographics," can you be a little more specific about this undefined demographic? Is it everybody represented by the loosey-goosey term "Millennial"?

What percentage of the adult population or "people our age" do you believe you and your impressions of "people our age" represent? What percentage of "people our age" do you think share your observations about "people our age"?

RaleighSport

"

1. Generally speaking, Millennials are the children of Baby Boomers or Gen Xers. Older Millennials may have parents that are members of the Silent Generation. The Pew Research Center, an American think tank organization, defined "adult Millennials" as those who are 18 to 33 years old, born 1981–1996."
   
   Whew... glad the hard definition removed me from the age range, but for the purposes of marketing it's any adult born in 1980 or after (at least in the industries I'm familiar with).
   

I-Like-To-Bike

Even more generally speaking, "Millennials (also known as the Millennial Generation or Generation Y) are the demographic cohort following Generation X. There are no precise dates when the generation starts and ends. Researchers and commentators use birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s." Millennials - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Who knows who the Millenials are supposed to represent when posters/commentators or bloggers are tossing out all sorts of generalizations, stereotypes, wishful thinking, guesswork and urban legends intermixed with a factoid or two about "people of our age."

downtube42

There are three kinds of lies.... you are the victim of that third and most insidious kind of lie: statistics. You've been shoved in a group not of your choosing, then given a group grade.

RaleighSport

So ILTB is a millennial eh? From the crankiness levels I've always suspected you were much older

Artkansas 

Well, if I could afford a Wacom Cintiq 24HD, then there would be a tool that meets my needs.

I-Like-To-Bike

Posts based on intelligent and logical thought, as well as real world experience could be thought of as crankiness by some people ill equipped for same, or unable to tolerate the goring of their sacred cows.