Net Gains: Boom or bust

www.tiac.net/users/edufax/BOOM!

Baby boomers will be remembered for many things: flower power, cheesecloth, joss-sticks... In mitigation, though, the post-war generation can, at a push, lay claim to being the prime movers of the digital revolution. In fact, the Web could be seen as the baby boom's most important legacy. Which is just as well, because what the boomers daub all over their creation doesn't reflect well on today's forty and fifty-somethings.

Boomers International is a typical example (hometown. aol.com/boomersint). In psychedelic day-glo colours, it attempts, like quite a few similarly themed sites, to have its acid tab and eat it. So, while it makes great play of the Sixties and all that decade represents, the site promotes boomer business rings and asks you to vote for "Boomer of the Month". Can there have been a generation to preen its image so relentlessly? Looking at The Baby Boom: a History the answer is obvious (fred.net/hsmead/boom.htm). Here the day-dreaming boomer can pick up exactly which historical references to drop at his next brunch appointment.

Boom! at least puts a bit of critical distance between the boomer and his three major preoccupations: weight, death and the kids (tiac.net/users/ edufax/BOOM!). If you really want to know what scares the generation who thought they'd never grow up, though, the following site appeared in the links: The Non-Chew Cookbook (rof.net/yp/randyw/).