iGeneration: Shuffling Toward the Future

Tami Oliphant is a Ph.D. candidate in Library and Information Studies at the University of Western Ontario.

iGeneration follows the musings and meanderings of Jason Logan, a
chronicler of the “elusive generation born and raised on new
technologies.” Taking a cue from the iPod, Logan illustrates and
encapsulates his observations of how new technology is affecting culture
and this new generation. Part lament, part wry humour, part prophecy,
and all poignant detail, the book perfectly captures the zeitgeist of a
wired generation expected to be progressive and cool.

Comparisons to Douglas Coupland’s Generation X are unavoidable. Like
Gen X the iGeneration may be shut off from the rest of the world.
However, compounding this sense of isolation is the contradictory push
and pull of the virtual world. Logan beautifully captures this
contradiction in his list “The Great Divide” where he discusses the
merits and drawbacks of the digital world. On one side of the divide
individuals have “more options” and “more chat,” but across the
chasm lurks “less choices” and “less conversation.”

Logan’s book is full of bittersweet lists and observations such as
“Before You Meet Your PerfectMatch Internet Date, You Might Want to
Come Clean on a Few Things … Admit you may have exaggerated your pixel
size, Also admit the photoshop work you’ve had done, Clear up the fact
that the way you ‘talk’ on the Web is based on Thesaurus.com, while
the way you talk in person is sort of based on cavemen and The
Simpsons.” The author intelligently comments on everything from art to
zombies to blogging pigeons.

It is the combination of Logan’s drawings and his prose that makes
iGeneration a standout. The book includes web links and a useful
dictionary of terms for the Luddites among us.