Bob Dylan wrote that song back in the '60s. It is as true today as it was then. It applies to the use of technology as much as it did to the politics back then. Not only is the technology changing, but so are the generations.

The two are tied tightly together. Many "long-term" (now that I have grandchildren I never use the word older) owners are intimidated by technology. Others can use it, but are not committed to it. Some do not understand why anyone wants to change the way we have always done business.

At the other extreme, the up-and- coming owners are chomping at the bit to implement more technology. They are looking at new ways to operate businesses that cannot be done without computers. Their parents are driving them crazy by asking for justification of expenditures that the kids intuitively know are needed.

It is the Generation Gap at work. Every year we see in so many distribution businesses that this change is obvious. The younger the management team, the more the business is automated. (Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.)

In some cases, Mom and Dad are telling the kids to wait just a couple of more years. Why gamble the retirement funds at this late stage? Why? The answer is easy. If you do not spend the money and take advantage of the available technology, there may not be a business to support your retirement.

Customers of distributors are going through the same thing. Their kids are taking over. As young people come into the business, they are demanding more technology to make their lives easier. They are looking for business partners (not just suppliers) who can support them electronically.

Remember, these kids have grown up with computers. My kids went to college with laptop computers. They did their research over the Internet. In many cases, assignments were e-mailed in, never to be printed. If we do not give them the tools they are already so good at using, they will go elsewhere.

At one presentation to a major national distribution association, I was contrasting the old ways of doing things with the new ways. At one point, I asked the audience if they remembered five-part forms and the instruction to "press hard to go through four carbons?" A young 20-something in the front raised his hand and asked: "What's a carbon?" Our comfortable old world is being displayed in the Smithsonian.

It doesn't matter if you are working to find better suppliers, customers or employees. The younger they are, the more they will demand. If you want to find and keep the best and the brightest, you'd better provide the tools they are already so good at using.

They are just as comfortable talking on a computer-based cell phone connected to the Internet for e-mail and browsing as we are with POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). There is no battle. The kids have already won. The only question is, when will the last of our generation surrender?

As Dylan said: "Your old road is rapidly agin'; Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand; For the times, they are a' changin'!"