Is Web 2.0 The Elder Killer?

Listening to the Brian Lehrer show this morning on NYC, and hearing the discussion about how young people have become the experts in this new Web 2.0 world, I wrote a comment to the author, Jeff Jarvis (What Would Google Do?) being interviewed (http://www.buzzmachine.com/2009/02/06/on-brian-lehrer-this-morning/#comments)
basically saying that young people are always ahead in a time of change.

But then how do we make sense of the woman who called in, retired or out of work at the age of 55, who started on the Google 'give it away free' model and is now doing well.

Or the students in my WriteSpeak classes (www.writeyourownsuccessstory.com)most of them between the ages of 40 and 65, many of whom have become experts on Web 2.0 itself, and are, for instance, in the top 50 on Twitter, etc.

Maybe the answer is that people who must learn (like the woman who called in to the show) and people who love to learn (like the people who signed up for my classes) have pounced on the new toys with the fascination of children. Maybe the internet starts the same dendritic fireworks as learning a new language -- at any age -- as Betty Freidan's sources said in her great book, The Fountain of Age.

I'd love to know what you think.