Boris jongAs a kid, my only source of nudity were 3 soft porn magazines (70s style) that I found in a stack of old magazines in our attic. I also remember finding a copy of an Anais Nin book when I was a bit older. I hid it in my room and read it only when I was sure my parents weren’t looking.

My only access to other exciting knowledge was my monthly subscription to a science and technology magazine. Read it front to back when it arrived, and read back issues when I got bored.

When I was 19 I bought a Macintosh Plus and discovered computing. From that point on there wasn’t a day when I wouldn’t spend hours finding out exciting new stuff. I kept the Macintosh Plus into its original packaging – a carton box 1 meter wide, high and deep – and carried it with me in trains, buses and wherever I went.

I think about that a lot these days. When I hear complaints about the iPhone not supporting copy & paste or our DSL connection being slow I can’t help thinking about that large carton box I used to carry with me and how we far we came compared to that.

Am I getting old? Maybe.

Same for information in general. How does it all affect our youth to have access to so much information? And no, I’m not pessimistic at all. As a kid I was so hungry for information and I’m sure I could have absorbed a 1000 times more information if I’d had access to it. I sometimes imagine how my life would have turned out if I’d had WikiPedia, Google and the web in general at my disposal when I was, say, twelve.

Yeah sure, I would have downloaded lots and lots of x rated stuff. But I also would have been able to learn so much more about science, technology and all the other stuff that excited me as a kid.

And Twitter. What would I have tweeted as a kid? What about you? What highlights would you have shared with the world? Here are a few things I might have tweeted.

Age 4:

“I’m so bored. I Wish I was 5″

Age 7:

“WOW! I got glasses! trees have leaves! I can read street signs and see front of the classroom! What have I missed the past years!”

Age 8:

“Oh shit, stuck in my canoe under a low bridge. Only way to get out is to push my canoe down into the water. Only 30 meters to go. I’m NOT telling this to my parents!”

Age 12:

“Just got caught steeling a pack of cigarettes. I DON’T EVEN SMOKE!!!! Got caught on way out. They are calling the cops. I’m SCREWED NOW!”

Age 14:

“IN LOVE! Just got my first kiss. We were watching TV, I laid down, she bent over, the sun was shining through her blond hair. I closed my eyes. Wet. Sweet. Dizzy. More!!!”

Age 14.01:

“She dumped me! Broke my heart. I’m so NEVER going to get over this!”

Age 15:

“Just dropped out of school. Totally had it with that shit. Joined the circus school. That’s it. I’m gonna be a professional juggler!”

Age 16:

“I can’t believe it. @Michieltje just hit a train on his motorcycle. He is dead! I don’t know how to handle this…”

Age 16:

“@TessaS is a girl I just met. Going to spend some time on making her my girlfriend. Shouldn’t take too long.  ;-)”

Age 23:

“Okay, took a little longer than expected but @Tessas and I are now dating!!!”

What would you have tweeted when you would’ve had Twitter as a teenager?