ABSTRACT
This chapter explores what it means for young people to be growing up in a world where computers are routinely part of their everyday lives; what it means to have a 'digital childhood'. It argues that many commentators have argued that computer mediated technologies are changing childhood; that they are establishing entirely new subjectivities and identities for young people. One useful way of understanding what the computer means in children's lives is to see computer use as a form of 'consumption'. The computer can symbolise many different things: its owners' participation in the 'modern world', concern for children's welfare, access to the future, a mundane object for daily living. The computer was so important for Huw, David, Alistair, Karen and Faezal, for example, that each of them was jokingly called a 'computer nerd' or 'boff' by their friends during the group interviews.
