this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023
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Something I’ve noticed as an elder millennial working in IT is that there’s an assumption by older generations that because zoomers have grown up with smartphones that they’ll automatically be proficient with tech as a whole, but it’s not correct in my experience and I really think it’s doing them a disservice. They’re better than anyone else I’ve met at navigating apps/mobile UI and can be super efficient working that way but tend to struggle as much as boomers with more traditional computers, because it’s simply not what they grew up with and no one really sat them down to formally teach them. We’re definitely going to see more of the “appification” of common office tools and programs as the zoomers and Generation Alpha progress in their careers and start outnumbering the older generations in the workplace in my opinion. If AI hasn’t put us all out of a job by then anyway.
There is another article I read where colleges had to teach Computer Science majors basic computer concepts like folders because the students relied on search for everything.
It would be like how almost everyone knew how to work on their own car in the 40's and 50's because you needed to in order to get the car to run. Nowadays, you don't need that information to drive a car.
I think your car metaphor is even more apt than you meant it, as over time both car manufacturers and mobile platforms have gotten more and more hostile to users actually being able to do maintenance or self service.
That's true, but there's always a way. For instance clones of the John Deere factory service tool and pirated software is available on AliExpress for less than a thousand dollars. For more common manufacturers there's tools for doing all kinds of stuff.
The more popular the platform, the more prevalent the problem, and the more expensive the OEM makes it are all determining factors as to the availability of aftermarket tools and repairs.
If something costs a million people one thousand dollars to fix then a third party can afford a couple of full time engineers to come up with a fix that costs five hundred.
I've personally made my own physical tools for working on cars when a factory special tool is called for.
Never underestimate a determined person with a welder and a grinder.
For sure, but it does make the barrier to entry significantly higher. A kid now is much less likely to stumble into how something works if they have to effectively break several locks when before the door was wide open.
To be fair modern cars won't even let you. E.g. if you disconnect the battery of a modern car, there's a high chance that it completely breaks (because some chips reset without power).
I doubt that they are actually that skilled with mobile apps, since most things on a phone are "use them as they are or just don't". You can't really customize things, or do things in your own ways. E.g. ask someone to send you an original, uncompressed photo on Whatsapp.
That's like thinking someone knows how to cook because they can order at McDonalds.
It’s an absurd premise, but it’s true! I teach HS computer science and always take time to teach them basic skills about Excel — like what it’s even capable of.
That's great. Teaching them what it is capable of opens new vistas (not that Vista) and that there are lots of possibilities with other software as well. Not a MS fan at all but Excel is powerful and the point comes through regardless of the platform.
My big point is always, "I don't expect you to memorize all of these things, but rather to understand what sort of thing is possible in Excel/Google Sheets. Hopefully it'll stick in the back of their head, and 10 years later they'll look like a wizard in their office job, if nothing else.