Most of the "ideals" we heard about back then were mostly emotional gas. At some point, most hippies realized that living off the land was easier said than done.

Modern kids are wired in the real world. They have more access to information and computing power than anyone has ever had before.

Imagine the invention of reusable type if it had included a method for ANYONE to have a printing press. Imagine if everyone in previous American generations had a gigantic library next door to their house. This is the situation with computers and the Internet right now.

As with any other tech advances, there will be big problems and abuses, but there will also be amazing new ideas and progress. Many kids just listen to ITunes, but enough of them will use the new tools to create new ways of doing more with a LOT less.

On the Off-Topic thread, Lindy posted some photos that are probably computer generated, and probably by some guy in his back room. As someone who has followed the technology, I am amazed that someone with a personal computer can now do what it took a fifty-man effects team and millions of dollars of equipment to do back when the first "Star Wars" movie came out. Project this example onto any number of fields, and you can see where this is going.