The Death of Car Culture in America? The Social Consequences of the Internet Revolution?

Hi folks -- I ran across an interesting blur in the most recent edition of the Porsche Club of America magazine, Panorama. The header was entitled "Is 'car culture' dying in the U.S.?"

Here is what followed:

"It may well be, according to Automotive News, who postulates that just as the Internet has blasted music sales and dramatically altered the landscape for news media, so it has for the car industry for teenagers and 20-somethings. They note that the automobile is becoming less relevant for the under-30 crowd as this group depends more on social media for more immediate connection to their friends and peers vs. the direct contact of just a decade ago. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation data, in 1978 about half of eligible 16 year-olds and three-fourths of eligible 17-year olds had their driver's licenses. This decline has accelerated rapidly since 1998. Author William Draves (Nine Shift: Work, Life, and Eduction in the 21st Century) says that the digital; age is reshaping the world now as much as the automobile reshaped American life in the 1900s. Digital technology allows these teenagers to transcend time and place. He also says that the environment is a reason often given for why these Gen-Y teens drive less."