Steve Mushkin is the founder and CEO of Latitude Research, a company that works with schools, media enterprises and software developers on innovation projects for both children and adults, at the intersection of technology, creativity and learning. Some of his current initiatives center around robots in education, collaborative games and new forms of narrative.
Latitude Research recently published the results of its study called, “Children’s Future Requests for Computers & the Internet” which is a very interesting read about what today’s kids want from tomorrow’s technology.
So, I’ve linked to the study and decided to do a short interview with Mr. Mushkin about his findings. Here is the interview:
Kevin Tech: What was the inspiration behind the study, “Children’s Future Requests for Computers & the Internet”?
Steve Mushkin: We believe that kids are the architects of the future – sometimes of the present as well – and that their imaginations will provide insights and ideas to complement and often go beyond those of adults. Giving kids a voice and space to invent in a study like this allows them to fill their natural role as the budding creators and inventors of new technology, at least conceptually. They become partners with us in designing what’s next, rather than passive recipients of what we offer them.
Kevin Tech: What was the biggest surprise in the results of how children regard their future with technology?
Steve Mushkin: We were intrigued by the seamlessness with which children are viewing the digital and physical worlds. Many of the kids don’t even seem to make a distinction between what’s on the screen and what’s beyond it; essentially, they want the internet and the everyday world in which they live to be fully integrated and unified in ways that ultimately allow technology generally, and the web in particular, to flow without hindrance into our lives.
Kevin Tech: Let’s do a generational leap of sorts and let me ask your prediction on how you think the kids of these kids will envision their interactions with technology?
Steve Mushkin: Great question. Their ideas will likely feel quite magical to us and quite realistic to them – a sort of tech magical realism. Much of what they may envision will center around the ability of the mind to truly control and change matter, or of matter to change itself fluidly, so to speak. We can also picture that generation of kids thinking about present, past and future experiences, dreams, and fictional spaces all as equally accessible. In essence, the divide between what is real and imagined may give way to a more unified sensibility about consciousness that creates all sorts of new desires and possibilities.
Well, there you have it. As children today are being introduced to computers, cell phones and other technology at a younger age than at any other time in history, their expectations are becoming and will continue to become a driving force in the economy and the social world in which we live.
Many thanks to Mr. Mushkin for his time and insights into the expectations that today’s kids have on how new technology will be shaping their futures.