Is pop culture dead?

A woman I work with was telling me the other day that she grew up in Idaho - near the Snake River. As a person who grew up in the 70s and 80s, I immediately thought of Evel Knieval and his attempted jump of the Snake River Canyon. I think it is an event that anyone who grew up in that era would remember. Sadly, Mr. Knievel passed away last week.

But this got me thinking. Do kids today have similar common pop-culture experiences? Or are they spread so thin across TV channels, radio, iPods, Wiis, and websites that they all are experiencing life differently? What will they "collectively remember" 20 years from now?

It used to be that, when our entertainment options were more limited, people all over the world were watching and worshipping the same cultural icons - Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe. Then television and radio gave us more choices and we started to go our separate ways.

Today, with more entertainment choices than ever before, are any of us watching and experiencing the same thing? We all want more options and more choices regarding how to spend our leisure time. So we've obvisously gained freedom and choice in this technological age. But part of me wonders if we've lost something too.