49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Long on description short on prescription -- good reference not a must read now, December 23, 2008
I had high expectations for this book based on Tapscott's prior work, the fact that this is based on a multi million-dollar study, and that Net Generation is coming into the workforce. I did not think that my expectations were too high, but I may be wrong, as Grown Up Digital did not deliver for me. It is long on description and short on prescription.
It's a good book, but not one that shapes your thinking like Tapscott's Wikinomics book, nor does it break significant new ground relative to all the other books covering this subject. I put this book down several times for weeks, to read other books, so it is more of a reference than a must read.
I would recommend reading Plugged In by Tamara Erickson as I think it's a better business book, one that is more focused and more valuable to readers than Grown Up Digital. I reviewed that book as well and found some issues, but it provides a more succinct, actionable and insightful focus - which were things that I had hoped for here.
Strengths:
The book is comprehensive in its description and treatment of the Net Generation and describing this generation as a group with its own values and behaviors that will have in impact on society.
The book looks at the Net Generation from different perspectives in terms of their impact on the workplace, society, education, etc.
The book provides some brief caricatures of the net generation so they are able to speak in their own words what is going on.
Challenges:
The primary challenge is the books single dimensional view of the net generation in terms of their adoption and use of technology. It does not take into account that this group grew up under a period of relative social, political and economic stability. Nor does it consider the future of being anything but a straight-line progression of the world in 2006. The economic conditions will be definitional to this generation, but unending growth and prosperity was an assumption beneath this book.
The book treats this generation as a single block; they are all well educated, western leaning, capitalism supporting, environmentally conscious individuals. Such stereotyping does not take into account the fact that any generation is made up of diverse people, with different backgrounds, needs and ambitions. I had hoped that the breadth of Tapscotts research would have done more than paint every net generation person the same.
The book repeats itself using the same assertions as answers for the different chapters. The fact that the net generation wants choice, customization, freedom and the like are all true, but Tapscott uses choice as the answer for every problem ranging from the workplace to society. That broad brush is too simplistic.
The book fawns over the net generation believing that they can do no wrong. This is a critical challenge in the book, as Tapscott does not seem able to look at this generation from an unbiased perspective. You see this in Tapscotts' response to people who have been critical of this generation; he basically dismisses these comments or explains them away. He labels people who have a less than rosey view as nGenerationphobic -- this labeling is a bad sign not found in his other work. Tapscott has personalized the 'do no wrong" in this generation throughout the book by referring to his children as the epitome of this generation and all that it can do. That personalization limits his objectivity and colors the value of the insights.
Tapscott frequently refers to his project being `definitive on this generation' however he does not show much if any of the data from this multi-million dollar study. He does quote data from other people's studies to the degree that it supports his argument. It would have been nice to see some of the data that is so definitive.
The whole issue of the Net Generation has been the focus of Don Tapscott's work for most of his career. I was hoping for more in this book, the result of a multi-million dollar study that seeks to be definitional about this generation. I have great hopes for the Net Generation, as do we all. This book is helpful in understanding that generation, but not powerful enough to define a generation that holds the future in their hands.
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good information but seriously flawed, January 8, 2009
Like "Wikinomics" before it, "Grown Up Digital" is full of interesting and relevant facts, examples and quotes. It also gave me several things to think about or to research (including shelfari.com now owned by Amazon).
For example, I liked the 8 "net generation norms" - freedom, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaboration, entertainment, speed and innovation - and how they're applied to various topics throughout the book including the workplace and consumerism. These 8 norms provide a useful framework for examining how the net generation may view or seek to change other areas.
However, for all the useful information, I find the style and tone of the book to be that of a self-aggrandizing cheerleader rooting for a cause than that of a serious analyst.
Examples:
- Applying the woefully over-hyped and overused "2.0" label to yet more areas (and even claiming credit for some as original thoughts) - "The 2.0 School", "Consumers 2.0", "Leadership 2.0", "Film 2.0", "Talent 2.0", "Democracy 2.0" and "Marketing 2.0, as I call it."
- Promoting that the book is based on a $4 million research study, then littering the book with 38(!) references from his 2 children as exemplars of the net generation plus more quotes from his wife, daughter's boyfriend, and kids' friends.
- Making broad sweeping statements with little or no backing. There *are* many useful statistics in the book but there are many claims which are backed up only by an anecdote or a quote from his children. In a section on memory and internet use, for instance, it is ridiculous to list "learning a new language of acronyms, like OMG and LOL" as evidence. Or, in telling one of several Best Buy stories in the book he labels all of the employees as being "vibrant and artistic and are into the latest and greatest technology and extremely passionate about storytelling (p. 150)" That's downright silly. (Clearly, the author has never been to Best Buy!) Why not just stick with the useful facts or stories and leave the pseudo-science and hyperbole aside?
- Employing an informal writing style undermines what are, in places, serious hypotheses. Combined with all of the familial references, it makes it unclear what is fact-based analysis and what is just first-person experience. There are far too many grating references to "net geners" and "boomers" as if they're two sports clubs. And, phrases like "this ain't your daddy's Internet" or "these kids are alright" or "Give us a break!" make the book feel more like a tract defending "the kids" than a serious work.
Despite its flaws, the book is still useful, but the hyperbole and cheerleading cause it to be less than it might have been.
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