Zach Ware

Patrick Hipp on Millennials

I have this light friendship with a person, let’s call him Bob. And every time I ask Bob what’s new, he replies “Oh, you know, millennials.” He analyzes millennials for a living.

I don’t know what he does, who he studies or what he means. This article helped me frame why.

It’s long and I’ve read it top to bottom 2–3 times.

It’s not a strategic blow-your-mind piece. It’s just what needed to be said about the seemingly never ending stream of “what do millennials care about” babble.

I was born in 1981. I did not have the internet as a child. I was 13 and living on a farm when Netscape Navigator was released.

My family’s first cell phone was in a bag that weighed at least 10 pounds. I can’t see how my world view is even slightly the same as a person who never knew the world without an iPhone.

Fuck You, I’m Not A Millennial

Well, for those born between 1975 and 1990, let’s say, our formative years looked nothing like those of the Millennials. Our television came in largely via antenna, our movies were on VHS, our music was on cassettes. The internet wasn’t around, and by the time it was in any way that meant something, you could be disconnected by someone picking up a phone somewhere else in the house. We look like digital natives, but only because we grew up in tandem with the internet, as if technology was designed like the progressive grades in elementary and high school.

First published on July 26, 2016