A good post by Jon Udell discusses the ways people search for information on the web... and how these differ for the so-called digital "natives" and digital "immigrants."
For those unfamiliar with these terms - digital "natives" are the young people that grew up with computers and Internet at home, while the "immigrants" are those of us that had to learn this stuff at a later point in life.
For me, as a real life immigrant, the conclusions seem quite self-evident if applied to the original context referred to by the "native/immigrant" metaphor. Read this:
"Life is a game of orienteering that immigrants can often play more effectively than natives."
...and this one from the comments:
"...although natives may be more fluent in their home culture, they may also be less critical of that culture."
Very true... Now, think back again about computers and the web. Next time a teenager tries to intimidate you with fast typing, clicking, or texting - remember, you are probably way better than him/her in what's called "orienteering." Here we go - you just learned a new word. Use it to intimidate the youngsters around you...
Author: Emil, 2007.