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It’s that time of the year again – to take a minute and think about our incoming college freshmen!

They were born in 1990/1991! As a genX kid I’m most astonished by the fact that the baby from Nirvana’s Nevermind album cover is one of them.

Here are some technology related highlights from the Berloit College Mindset List for the incoming class of 2012:

The class of 2012 has grown up in an era where computers and rapid communication are the norm, and colleges no longer trumpet the fact that residence halls are “wired” and equipped with the latest hardware. These students will hardly recognize the availability of telephones in their rooms since they have seldom utilized landlines during their adolescence. They will continue to live on their cell phones and communicate via texting. Roommates, few of whom have ever shared a bedroom, have already checked out each other on Facebook where they have shared their most personal thoughts with the whole world.

• GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
• Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
• Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
• Students have always been “Rocking the Vote.”
• IBM has never made typewriters.
• They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
• Caller ID has always been available on phones.
• They never heard an attendant ask “Want me to check under the hood?”
• Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
• The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.