I'd like to find websites that descirbe Generation X.  Also sites that
cater to there material product tastes.

humbugxf-ga,

Let’s begin with a formal definition of Generation X  from
WordReference.com,
[ http://www.wordreference.com/english/definition.asp?en=Generation+X
]:

“Generation X
noun  members of the generation of people born between the mid-1960s
and the mid-1970s who are highly educated and underemployed, reject
consumer culture, and have little hope for the future
[ETYMOLOGY: 20th Century: from the novel Generation X: Tales for an
Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland]”

Next, here’s a good general description of Gen X from a marketing
standpoint, at Onpoint Marketing’s website:

[ http://www.onpoint-marketing.com/generation-x.htm ].

An excerpt:

“born between 1965 and 1980, generation x members number 50 million in
the U.S , comprising 17% of the population. Members of gen x spend
$125 billion annually on consumer goods in the U.S. Generation x is
characterized by a propensity for technology, skepticism to
advertising claims, and attraction to personal style rather than
designer price tags.”

The following link is to an article entitled, “Generation X defies
definition,” by Jennifer Jochim, Outpost Contributor, and offers a
more informal commentary:

[ http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost/specials/genx.overvw1.html ].

An excerpt:

“Generation X can technically be defined as the generation following
the Baby Boomers. Xers were born between 1965 and 1980, 1961 and 1981,
1964 and 1979, 1963 and 1979, 1965 and 1975 or since the mid-1960s,
depending on which source you use. For practical purposes we will say
that Generation X was born between 1965 and 1980, now ranging in age
from 17-32 and usually judged by characteristics assigned to them by
the media.
Generation Xers were brought up on television, Atari 2600s and
personal computers. They are the generation that was raised in the
1970s and 1980s, and saw this country undergo a selfish phase that
they do not want to repeat.”

Next is a link to a site (Albany.net) with an article entitled,
“Defining Gen X TV,” which will give you a good idea of generation X’s
material product tastes:

[ http://www.albany.net/~genxtv/define.html ].

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“One of the most frustrating things about writing this book was
defending the use of the term Generation X. A lot of people get upset
that anyone would dare use such a label. When the cast of Friends
appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in March 1995, Winfrey asked the
show's six stars what they thought of the term. "I just hate the label
in general," replied David Schwimmer, who plays Ross on the hit sitcom
about six twentysomethings. "Because to me it connotes a kind of
slacker and all my peers are aggressively pursuing either jobs,
relationships, or just trying to come to grips with their identities.
And no one is kind of just laying back going, 'Let it happen, we're
Generation X.'"
Generation X is not synonymous with "slacker," but to many people
these words have come to mean the same thing. That's what happens when
the media names a generation after a piece of fiction (Douglas
Coupland's 1991 book Generation X) or a punk band (Billy Idol's
late-70s group), depending on who you ask.”

Related facts, from AUsport.gov,
[http://www.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/1999/cjsm/v3n4/lim34.htm ]:

“Americans born between 1979 and 1994 have been labeled by marketers
and demographers as Generation Y since they followed Generation X. At
78 million strong, they are more than three times the size of
Generation X, rivaling Baby Boomers in size and spending power.
Considerable attention has been focused in sport marketing literature
on the participation patterns of these preceding generations, but to
date, little has been revealed about Generation Y.”

Google search strategy:

Keywords,

“Generation X description”:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Generation+X+description
,

“Generation X definition”:
://www.google.com/search?q=Generation+X+definition&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off
,

“generation X material product tastes”:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=generation+X+material+product+tastes
 ,

“1965-1980”:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=1965-1980 

Also, conduct all of the above searches substituting the phrase “Gen
X” for “Generation X.”

I hope this helps.

Good luck on your project!

Sincerely,

omniscientbeing-ga
Google Answers Researcher

Hello humbugxf-ga,

There are two books that are key to understanding the mystique of Gen
X. They were published at about the same time – 1990 and 1991.

Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 – 2069 by William
Strauss and Neil Howe is a seminal work on the cycles of American
generations. They named the generation following the Boomers the 13th
Generation.

Douglas Coupland discusses this same generation in his book,
Generation X. Strauss and Howe popularized the study of the
generational cycles while Coupland generated a great deal of attention
about one particular generation.

I’ve collected a variety of links to help you explore these two books
and their legacy.

~ czh ~

-------------------------------
GENERATIONS BY STRAUSS AND HOWE
-------------------------------

http://www.lcourse.com/index.html
LifeCourse Associates (LCA) is a publishing, speaking, and consulting
company inspired by the generational discoveries of Neil Howe and
William Strauss.
Strauss and Howe know the generations. Their collected writings (see
the books) lend order, meaning, and predictability to national trends.
You can put what they know to work for your business or organization

http://www.lcourse.com/books.html
GENERATIONS: THE HISTORY OF AMERICA'S FUTURE, 1584-2069
by Strauss and Howe (Morrow/Quill 1991, 538 pages) 

13th-GEN: ABORT, RETRY, IGNORE, FAIL?
by Strauss and Howe (Vintage Books 1993, 229 pages)

THE FOURTH TURNING: AN AMERICAN PROPHECY
by Strauss and Howe (Broadway Books 1997, 382 pages)

MILLENNIALS RISING: THE NEXT GREAT GENERATION
by Strauss and Howe (Vintage Books 2000, 432 pages)


13th-GEN is often cited, along with Douglas Coupland's Generation X,
as one of the two books that heralded America's discovery of the
post-Boomer generation.
Born between 1961 and 1981, Gen-Xers (alias "13ers") are literally the
thirteenth generation to know the American flag and nation. This book
shows how their "location in history" (Xers were, in fact, the real
"children of the Consciousness Revolution") helps explain their
pragmatic attitude and unduly negative reputation.

Through the 1990s, 13th-GEN has remained the best-selling nonfiction
account of Xers. Many young-adult readers have told us that 13th-GEN
is on the one hand disturbingly accurate as to their generation's
upbringing and collective persona, and on the other hand an
on-the-whole positive account of who they are and where they're going.

http://www.lcourse.com/provenpredictions.html
PROVEN PREDICTIONS
Critical extracts from GENERATIONS, the 1991 book by Bill Strauss and
Neil Howe, LifeCourse partners and co-founders.

http://www.lcourse.com/predictions/partfive.html
Gen-Xers Give the Nineties its Roar (from pp. 408-14)

Despite their economic problems, Xers will blossom into America's
leading generation of shoppers, thanks largely to purchases they will
make for others (in extended families, or as part of new
shopping-oriented services Xers will run). Accordingly, they will have
a huge influence on products, styles, and advertising — much as the
Lost had in the 1920s. Once marketers realize this, the American media
will be barraged with messages stressing bluntness over subtlety,
action over words, the physical over the cerebral. The most successful
of these messages will hint at Xer alienation and their well-developed
sense of dark humor.


-------------------------------
DOUGLAS COUPLAND – GENERATION X
-------------------------------

http://www.coupland.com/
Douglas Coupland’s website

http://www.shootthemessenger.com.au/u_jan_98/life/l_dcoupland.htm
“The man who invented Generation X”

Douglas Coupland's seminal book, Generation X: Tales for an
Accelerated Culture, was first published in 1991. The first part of
that book's title - 'Generation X' - became the buzz-word of the '90s.
Defining, labelling, trying to come to grips with or just plain
dismissing the generation that followed the baby-boomers has become
the sport of would-be sociologist the world over.

Earlier this year, Brian Draper, editor of UK journal Third Way, spoke
to Douglas Coupland about culture, meaning and, since Coupland has
also penned Life After God, whether we have need of the divine...


http://www.shootthemessenger.com.au/pre_dec97/a_infowism_dec97/i_generati.htm
THE name Generation X has been popularised by Douglas Coupland's book
Generation X: Tales of an Accelerated Culture. They have also been
called "baby busters".


http://www.jour.unr.edu/outpost/specials/genx.overvw1.html
Generation X defies definition

Generation X can technically be defined as the generation following
the Baby Boomers. Xers were born between 1965 and 1980, 1961 and 1981,
1964 and 1979, 1963 and 1979, 1965 and 1975 or since the mid-1960s,
depending on which source you use. For practical purposes we will say
that Generation X was born between 1965 and 1980, now ranging in age
from 17-32 and usually judged by characteristics assigned to them by
the media.


http://membres.lycos.fr/coupland/coupgx.html
Generation X -- links

thanks I appreciate this.