Sumthin' about my generation

So more blogging today....this one, at NIcole's request...

Generation X, Y, Echo, etc...

So all the while attempting to get this info from reputable sources, the question is, when does each generation start or stop?

According to Wikipeda (semi trustworthy but it DOES cover serious pop culture), it says:
There are some older Generation Xers who frown upon the classification of those born in 1980 or 1981 as being part of Generation X; these individuals often prefer to classify Generation X as those born between 1964 and the mid to late 70's.

And then you've got this dude who's got a whole website talking about his generation:
So, What IS a "Generation", anyway? A generation, loosely defined, is a group of people who can be, 1) demographically identified by biological trends and 2) have shared experiences. These are the basis for my belief that the 1965-75 timeframe works best, since the 1961-81 years do not reflect birthrates as well as the 1965-75 dates do, and it's really a mistake to try to see 40 year olds as having the same shared experiences as 20 year olds who barely remember who Ronald Reagan was! (HOWEVER: It's been argued that Boomers born from 1946-1958 see themselves as separate from later boomers. That's certainly legitimate, but both groups fall in the same BIOLOGICAL generation. The 1961-1981 dates are purely cultural, and are not biologically correct, and I contend that they should not be used - but see the "comments" section of this site for some spirited discussion on this issue.)

NOw when you read stuff online about Gen Xers, this Doug Coupland guy comes up, so here's his book on amazon: Generation X : Tales for an Accelerated Culture

HOwever I keep getting this same blurb on a thousand websites:

The definition of Generation X is not clear either. Depending on who is asked, Generation X is made up of people born between 1965 and 1980, 1965 and 1975, 1961 and 1981, 1964 and 1979 or since the mid-1960s.

However I'm so not down with anyone born in 1981 being in the same category as me...i would sooner associate myself with someone born in 1961...To me, 1981 is the age of everyone's kid brother or sister, and they're just...different. I don't even know how to describe it. Maybe it's because to me, that generation didn't know what high school life was like without the internet. Or what high school life was like without cell phones or even at least pagers.

Sabina's definition: You're a Gen Xer if you remember Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street as far as I'm concerned. (Or if you were slightly too old to care).

On to Gen Y....

From Wikipedia: Generation Y, sometimes called Generation Why?, the "Echo Boom," the "Byte Block," the "Net Generation" or the "Millennial Generation," are terms used in demographics to describe a particular generational cohort in Western societies, specifically the United States. The cohort comprises those born in the 1980s and 1990s, although no consensus has emerged specifying exact dates, which has made matters difficult and confusing for many people. Proposed start dates range from 1977 to 1985, and proposed end dates range from 1994 to 2002, making only 10 years (1985 - 1994) out of the maximum 25-year threshold (1977 - 2002) definitely Generation Y.

See, this is exactly my issue...I know i'm on the cusp, and 1977 is the cutoff date between Gen X and Gen Y, but I content that I"m Gen X because I think Gen Y people are generally happier and I definitley whine plenty for my generation.

Still from Wikipedia:
Most have few memories of the Cold War (apart from perhaps action movies, toys, or video games with such themes) and came of age during the technology-driven changes in the years of President Bill Clinton. They were the first to grow up with the Internet in a developed, prolific form, including music downloads, instant messaging and cellular phones. The portmanteau "screenager" was coined in 1997 by Douglas Rushkoff in his book "Playing the Future" to describe this techno-savvy generation.

See that's EXACTLY what i just said (I'm researching as I write...too lazy to do as much research as Nic B does in advance...this is on the fly research baby!)...I grew up with BBS's and I remember being the very first out of all my friends with a cell phone when I was already in University, back when a Star Tac phone was SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS and considered super thin and slim....although back then at least the "free" minutes were after 6pm...not after 8....

So what have we learned so far?

Gen Xers end at around 1977 to 1981, but everyone disputes 1981 and definitely anytime in the 1980s....

Gen Y people grew up in a seriously high tech environment

Echo is the same as Gen Y

So now what comes after Gen Y? How about....

iGeneration is a term used to describe the generation born primarily in the mid-to-late 1980s, (1986-1990). The name is based on the popular iPod music device. The term was popularized by MC Lars in his song iGeneration, although previously used elsewhere to describe the internet generation, or a digital generation....

Interesting...this, I will admit, is all new to me. As far as i'm concerned, this is the Teenie Bopper Generation...

Sites like MySpace and LiveJournal are also commonly associated with members of iGeneration, and they have been attributed to creating a global community populated by those born in the late 80s.

I hate myspace. That's a side note

And finally, we have this:

Generation Z is a proposed generational name for the children born after Generation Y. This name is somewhat controversial as this generation is still too young to have exhibited any common characteristics or to have lived through any common experiences that could be the basis for a generational name or identity.
Date ranges for inclusion in Generation Z vary. According to the book Generations, this generation, which the authors William Strauss and Neil Howe simply call "New Adaptive", will be born from 2004 to 2025 (their later book, The Fourth Turning, uses the name "New Silent" instead). Some observers however, place this generation's first birth year earlier, perhaps 1997, on the grounds that a person born in that year could not expect to have any first-hand memory of the September 11, 2001 attacks; indeed, the alternate name of Homelander Generation has been proposed to convey the essence of this. Yet another alternative is Generation D, with the D standing for 'digital'. Their number of individuals included in this generation are projected be greater than that of Generation X - their parents - because of a trend towards rising birth rates among Generation X couples. Their numbers are projected to be far smaller though (both in total numbers and per year count) than Generation Y.


Which basically is my way of saying that I"m bored of this topic, I'm tired, my brain won't think, and I keep hearing bad dated songs play in my head.
So think what you want.

We're all going to grow old and get wrinkly and die anyway.