CactiGuide.com

Could these numbers be a little skewed? I Think many older cactus growers that don't like or use computers very much be very under-represented.

The numbers do seem to fit a bell-curve pretty well...

As far as a skew, I would suspect that the actual membership of CactiGuide is skewed somewhat toward the younger, generally more computer-savvy people (moving the median age down a couple of years) and that non-CactiGuide members that might attend a cactus club meeting are skewed a toward older folks. Maybe some of us who go to cactus club meetings would have a better idea? Or maybe I'm selling my generation short and most of us are now as comfortable using a computer as our grandkids are?

Yeah, I think the ages of online groups tend to skew younger mostly because people who got into the hobby Before Internet have often found like-minded souls through the analog ways for doing that - local clubs, conventions and shows, probably magazines and newsletters?

On the other hand, all of us net-savvy under-40s are unlikely to forget how to use computers as we progress into the next demographic bracket.

So as long as the whole thing doesn't move to some unnecessary newfangled technology like smart phones or wi-fi brain implants or something I think we'll be all set.

I tend to be of the opinion that cacti are a good hobby to get into as young as you can, simply because so many of the plants are slow growing - it wouldn't be hard at all for someone in their 60s to have a plant (or descendent thereof) that they've kept for thirty or forty years. With any luck I'll be one of them - I've had my oldest plants for ten years now and haven't lost very many over time.

apfire wrote:Could these numbers be a little skewed? I Think many older cactus growers that don't like or use computers very much be very under-represented.

The numbers are to reflect the demographics of forum members, not cactus growers in general.

So the numbers aren't skewed, unless one particular category of people are more likely to participate in the poll than others.

I have been using computers since before there was a "PC" and have probably forgotten more telephony and techno-drivel than anyone wants to hear about. Don't forget that it is us "older cactus growers" who gave you the PC, internet and cell phone technology that we all depend so much on. So, watch your tounges you whippersnappers! Maybe old folks don't do the techno geek stuff because we got bored with it after we invented it.

Harriet, I love the way you put it!

My father belongs to the primary rock, too; he has just retired. He would never-ever enter a news group concerning anything belonging to his private life.
As a baby, I was swaddled on a computer (end-60ies, the PC wasn't invented by far): The machines then just had a convenient height for my mum. Today I belong to the "middle age" here. Being my fathers daughter, I would never play any computer game -- I wouldn't play with an electric drill either, and where's the difference? But I work in the IT-branch, too. Guess why.
The one and only news group I belong to is this one here. Here are so many nice & kind people, I just feel well here.
Ruth

Thing is, I turn 30 in eleven days.

...and what's so bad about that, stevo? Be happy, a very good time is approaching! I simply loved my thirties. (The forties have begun even better.)
Ruth

Not really bad, necessarily, just that I think my life is going to change somehow the second I turn 30.

An ex-boyfriend of mine, he somehow expected the world to change mysteriously, too. He couldn't believe it that the world didn't stop turning. I am not sure wether he was relieved or disappointed when he awoke on his 30th birthday and was still himself.
What is so special about becoming thirty? Isn't it just another birthday...?

Turning 30 wasn't so bad. I'm a little cautious as to what 40's going to look like in a couple of years though; I'm already noticing the print is getting too small and the floor is further down there than I think it should be.

It's a good thing I don't have much lawn or I would be tempted to tell people to get off it.

stevo3214 wrote:Thing is, I turn 30 in eleven days.

i'll see your thirty and raise you another thirty in December

Well, at least with age, comes wisdom and maturity. I've also noticed that time seems to go by faster than when I was a kid, and I like to nap more.

I started in the 80's, so 30+ years collecting, not full time. I had to slow down a bit, 3 kids to raise, restart my career and now, all 3 in college. No more travel games, 4 nights a week at games, so what else is a man to do, kick his hobby up a notch. Don't tell my wife, she thinks I'm washing the car.

lol well I started collecting when I was in my 20s, I am 34 now, and in that rut in the middle 30s where I wonder where I go from here lol