My gang shelled out all those quarters in the mall arcades -minus one for the bus ride to get back home. Before the arcade boom, kids wanted an Atari console for the family TV. Gilligan's Island had been re-running for a decade so watching a remote control-less TV stunk. Bicycles and kickball were options, but being the Baby Bust generation, we had few peers to play with. Everyone seemed to be either too old or young; "go away kid, ya bother me" and; "can I follow you?" are painfully familiar. Same age companions were spread pretty thin around our city. So we begged and pleaded for parents to buy that Nintendo home console. They usually obliged, since there weren't a lot of human playmates our age.
When home game systems appeared, well, I wasn't much for playing with others anyway. I argued with brothers over who got to use the new toy next, and friends (none my age) seemed bothersome when they wanted to play. From this isolation, the generation kept demanding more 'no share' distractions. With this idea applied across the country, turns out we arcade kids weren't alone afterall. But we are linked by those quarters. Our solitary playtime and anti-social appearance are actually byproducts, not choices.
All those quarters created and financed today's technology market. The cell phone, home computer, and GPS system got their start with kids who loved nothing more than to waste a Saturday chasing Pac Man at the arcade. There weren't many of us, but boy, did we spend quarters! Quarters are what built this computer age. For good or bad?
Today's technology is aimed at an individual's power in society. Not an unexpected development to predict. But this changes society from a group orientation to an individual orientation. Keep in mind Generation X never intended "me first", but rather "I don't know anybody else". Blame this on why our quarters got spent in the first place.
To our credit we are some of the most ruggedly individual people you'll meet. We don't take kindly to being pushed around by the status quo, much less other people. Having lived childhood expecting to be alone, we survive as adults outside any majority group influence. (Never had it anyway).That is where our generation will shine; We know how to turn off video games, enjoy companionship, and think a quarter is still important. We're also used to not having a remote control.
Don't let current technology make you forget what Generation X still recalls. Human society is supposed to be served by machine-not ruled.