Millennials and the Pop Culture [Paperback]

William Strauss (Author), Neil Howe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2006

Strategies for a New Generation of Consumers in Music, Movies, Television, the Internet, and Video Games.

In this new book, William Strauss and Neil Howe do for the entertainment industry what they did for colleges, the armed forces, and others who design or sell products for today's young people. They explain how, and why, Millennials have grown up to be so different from what nearly everybody expected--and how to turn this new youth tide to your advantage.

Editorial Reviews

Review

America's foremost authors on generations offer unique insights showing what we're doing right and wrong, and why. -- Cathy Black, President, Hearst Magazines

Students and administrators say they can already see indicators of the trends predicted by the authors. -- The Chronicle of Higher Education

Students and administrators say they can already see indicators of the trends predicted by the authors. --The Chronicle of Higher Education

The authors make short work of most media myths that shape our perception of kids these days. -- The Washington Post

The authors make short work of most media myths that shape our perceptions of kids these days. -- The Washington Post

The authors make short work of most media myths that shape our perceptions of kids these days. --The Washington Post

Their book illuminates changes that really do seem to be taking place. -- David Brooks, The New York Times

Their book illuminates changes that really do seem to be taking place. --David Brooks, The New York Times

The authors make short work of most media myths that shape our perceptions of kids these days. --The Washington Post

Students and administrators say they can already see indicators of the trends predicted by the authors. --The Chronicle of Higher Education

Product Details

• Paperback: 247 pages
• Publisher: LifeCourse Associates (March 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971260605
• ISBN-13: 978-0971260603
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #873,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Pete Markiewicz was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and went to school at Loyola University, New Orleans, and the University of Chicago. Graduating with a "Biophysics and Theoretical Biology" degree (the department later changed its name to "Molecular and Cellular Biology", he worked on infectious disease vaccines at USAMRIID in the late 1980s, and subsequently worked on protein evolution at UCLA in Los Angeles under Dr. Jeffry Miller.

In late 1993, Pete left UCLA to co-found Indiespace (formerly Kaleidospace) - the first web-based arts and entertainment company which exists today at http://www.indiespace.com. Throughout the 1990s Pete was part of design and programming, "dotcom" style, and Indiespace was the 1990s MySpace for thousands of musicians, visual artists, and independent filmmakers. Based on his experience, he also co-wrote three books on the Internet with Jeannie Novak, "Creating Internet Entertainment", "Internet World Guide to Maintaining and Updating Dynamic Websites", and "Webdeveloper.com Guide to Producing Live Webcasts".

After 2001 Indiespace changed into a consultancy. Pete began to specialize in the impact of new media (specifically web/interactive) on society. At this time he began work with William Strauss and Neil Howe on the Millennial Generation, and was one of the authors of their landmark book, "Millennials and Pop Culture". In the book, Pete helped predict the future of entertainment as Millennials (born 1982-2004) began replacing Generation X as the creators and consumers of pop culture (see video at http://www.youtube.com/v/qVrYEcGeHWs&hl=en).

In 2005, Pete was Team Leader for Team Robomonster, a robotic, self-driving rock crawler entered in the DARPA 2005 Grand Challenge (see video at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2627249071104327787).

In recent years, Pete has developed seminars on the Millennial Generation, pop culture, and virtual worlds for USC's CTM Programs at the Marshall School of Business and taught Interactive and Web Design at the Art Institute of California, Los Angeles. He has developed seminars and presentations highlighting the Millennial generation's use of the web, as well as virtual worlds like Second Life.

Most recently, he has been investigating sustainability issues for the Internet and Web under the title of "Sustainable Web Design".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More predictions about the Millennials, July 10, 2006

By 

A Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Millennials and the Pop Culture (Paperback)

This is another work by Strauss and Howe, similar in theme to their first book, Generations. The main thesis is that culture undergoes cycles of change composed of four generations each, alternating between inward-directed and outward-directed emphasis.

The book comes several years after Millennials Rising, and as such contains more detailed predictions about the Millennial generation, with specific application to popular culture and media.

The main idea is that within several years we will see a major cultural shift, as the Millennial generation becomes a dominant influence on the culture as a whole. This is a civic-minded generation like the G.I.s that won World War II; it will have a major impact on rebuilding public institutions.

Several concerns might be posed concerning the Strauss/Howe thesis. The claims regarding generational cycles are difficult to support quantitatively and rigorously--i.e., the theory may be unfalsifiable, thus not scientific. The theory minimizes other important trends, e.g. technological or civilizational. Much data provided in defense of the theory seem force-fitted and actually don't support the case: for example, it is said that Millennials love epic hero movies, such as Troy, Alexander and King Arthur--though none of these did outstandingly at the box office. Furthermore, many characteristics of youth culture are described here, but it is not clear that these facts actually support their theory or are incidental truisms about current youth culture.

This being said, this book as well as its predecessors make substantial claims about culture and explain much of cultural history difficult to explain otherwise. Anyone concerned about cultural trends cannot afford to neglect these works.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An informed study focusing upon a decreasing in entertainment consumption by the "Millenial generation, May 7, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Millennials and the Pop Culture (Paperback)

Co-authored by William Strauss and Neil Howe, and with the additional assistance of Pete Markiewicz, Millenials And The Pop Culture: Strategies For A New Generation Of Consumers is an informed study focusing upon a decreasing in entertainment consumption by the "Millenial generation". Providing readers documentation of this cultural phenomena through a series of polls, interviews, surveys, and ratings, Millenials And The Pop Culture delves deeply into the seeming demise of music concerts, big-screen movie viewing, and traditional music distribution sales, while informing readers of the increasing popularity and social change in computer games and game systems as key providers of significantly less limited formatting of entertainment delivery systems. Millenials And The Pop Culture is very strongly recommended as an invaluable and in-depth study of the Millenial generation that will be of particular interest to students of the generation-based social and cultural shifts, as well as those professionally involved with economics, marketing, and the entertainment business.