This year's college freshmen were mostly born in 1999. That means they barely know any phones except smartphones . . . they've never known a world where they couldn't order anything they needed from Amazon . . . and they only know Justin Timberlake as a solo artist. Plus all this stuff...
- Their classmates could include Eddie Murphy’s Zola and Mel Gibson’s Tommy, or Jackie Evancho singing down the hall.
- They are the last class to be born in the 1900s, the last of the Millennials -- enter next year, on cue, Generation Z!
- They are the first generation for whom a “phone” has been primarily a video game, direction finder, electronic telegraph, and research library.
- Electronic signatures have always been as legally binding as the pen-on-paper kind.
- In college, they will often think of themselves as consumers, who’ve borrowed a lot of money to be there.
- eHarmony has always offered an algorithm for happiness.
- Peanuts comic strips have always been repeats.
- They have largely grown up in a floppy-less world.
- They have never found Mutual Broadcasting or Westinghouse Group W on the radio dial, but XM has always offered radio programming for a fee.
- There have always been emojis to cheer us up.
- The Panama Canal has always belonged to Panama and Macau has been part of China.
- It is doubtful that they have ever used or heard the high-pitched whine of a dial-up modem.
- They were never able to use a Montgomery Ward catalogue as a booster seat.
- Donald Trump has always been a political figure, as a Democrat, an Independent, and a Republican.
- Zappos has always meant shoes on the Internet.
- They are the first generation to grow up with Watson outperforming Sherlock.
- Amazon has always invited consumers to follow the arrow from A to Z.
- Their folks have always been able to get reward points by paying their taxes to the IRS on plastic.
- In their lifetimes, Blackberry has gone from being a wild fruit to being a communications device to becoming a wild fruit again.
- They have always been searching for Pokemon.
- They may choose to submit a listicle in lieu of an admissions essay.
- Dora the Explorer and her pet monkey Boots helped to set them on the course of discovery.
- The seat of Germany’s government has always been back in Berlin.
- Jet Blue has always been a favorite travel option but the Concorde has been permanently grounded.
- By the time they entered school, laptops were outselling desktops.
- There has never been a Coliseum in New York, but there has always been a London Eye on the Thames.
- Once on campus, they will find that college syllabi, replete with policies about disability, non-discrimination, and learning goals, might be longer than some of their reading assignments.
- As toddlers they may have dined on some of that canned food hoarded in case of Y2K.
- An ophthalmologist named Bashar al-Assad has always provided vision for the Syrian military.
- Whatever the subject, there’s always been a blog for it.
- U.S. Supreme Court decisions have always been available at its website.
- Globalization has always been both a powerful fact of life and a source of incessant protest.
- One out of four major league baseball players has always been born outside the United States.
- Carl Sagan has always had his own crater on Mars.
- A movie scene longer than two minutes has always seemed like an eternity.
- The Latin music industry has always had its own Grammy Awards.
- Ketchup has always come in green.
- They have only seen a Checker Cab in a museum.
- Men have always shared a romantic smooch on television.
- They never got to see Jimmy Kimmel and Ben Stein co-host a quiz show or Dennis Miller provide commentary for the NFL.
- As toddlers, they may have taught their grandparents how to Skype.
- The image of Sacagawea has always adorned the dollar coin, if you can find one.
- Having another child has always been a way to secure matching tissue to heal an older sibling.
- There have always been Latino players on the ice in the NHL.
- Napster has always been evolving.
- Nolan Ryan has always worn his Texas Rangers cap in Cooperstown, while Steve Young and Dan Marino have always been watching football from the sidelines.
- The BBC has always had a network in the U.S. where they speak American.
- There has never been a sanctioned Texas A&M bonfire.
- There has always been a Monster in their corner when looking for a job.
- Wikipedia has steadily gained acceptance by their teachers.
- Justin Timberlake has always been a solo act.
- U.S. professional baseball teams have always played in Cuba.
- Barbie and American Girl have always been sisters at Mattel.
- Family Guy is the successor to the Father Knows Best they never knew.
- Motorola and Nokia have always been incredibly shrinking giants.
- Melissa has always been too nice a name to be attached to a computer macro virus.
- The Mars Polar Lander has always been lost.
- Women have always scaled both sides of Everest and rowed across the Atlantic.
- Bill Clinton has always been Hillary Clinton’s aging husband.
- Paleontologists have always imagined dinosaurs with colorful plumage.