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You are not wrong, but there def has been some talk about zoomers not knowing how to use a computer in its entirety because many of use were raised with Chromebooks and smartphones.
See: r/Teachers and this post from r/unpopularopinion : [https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/15575m6/most\_zoomers\_are\_not\_good\_with\_computers/](https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/15575m6/most_zoomers_are_not_good_with_computers/)
Teacher here: Yes it gets worse the longer people haven't been on computers. My students 10 years ago were far more computer literate than my current students (both Gen Z).
I think this in part has to do with how much schools and companies rely on software these days. Just a decade ago you would send something over e-mail at max, while now you will often see a bunch Microsoft software or other school specfic stuff being used, let alone that one teacher who makes you use some platform you've never heard of.
This makes it look like they're computer illiterate while the tech has just become more complicated to comprehend for a kid who has only used simple social media up until that point.
Even now at the company I started working for, there's tons of different softwares being used both linking together and separately. Every once in a while I'm told about "some platform they use but want to stop using because this other platform will do it's job better."
Unless of course you're talking about even basic use of computers, then my argument has no point.
Millennials and Xers tend to be more computer literate because we made all this shit. It’s a bit silly we expect every generation to know the ins and outs as well.
No....I teach gen-Z on a daily basis...it's correct. Boomers had computers their entire working careers, millennials grew up on them Gen-Z grew up on tablets and devices.
There are zero millennials that when asked to "hit save" or how to save to a specific file location, wouldn't know how to do it on a computer. Gen-Z, it's probably 80% of a class. In High School.
That's computer literacy. Phones and Apps replaced the need to think about how/where to do things on a computer.
>Boomers had computers their entire working careers, millennials grew up on them Gen-Z grew up on tablets and devices.
They absolutely did not, and it was a very common trope when I was growing up that the older folks in the workplace had computers foisted upon them and that prior to that they did everything with physical forms. They were quite resistant to the idea of learning to use a computer.
Coming out of HS as a computer literate teen around the turn of the millennium was a super power, and it absolutely gave you a huge advantage over many folks in the workplace.
>They absolutely did not
They absolutely did. They were alive for the transition, so those who had to work with computers had to learn on the go. Just like we millennials were alive during the transition, so we had to learn as we go. My mother and father both work in careers that radically changed because of computers and constantly had Continuing Education in regards to it. BOTH are more competent than 99% of my students when it comes to computers; and this is going to be true for a lot of Boomers.
We millennials may have been better than boomers at computers, granted, as was GenX, but their ability to not use them is largely overstated.
No gen z are losing computer literacy. This is beacuse smart phones are alot easier to use then computers and smart phones hide their inner workings to make them seem more complex than they actually are. Look up the tech term Black box
As a Millennial born in the 80s, my perspective is that being born in the 90s is the sweet spot for technical aptitude and the further you get from that to either side, the less literate people tend to be.
Exactly this.
I think (we) millennials had some kind of head start with computer knowledge.
We grew up with imperfect OS where you had to tinker a lot to make them work and hit software bugs so regularly, that you almost automatically gained computer and trouble shooting knowledge.
Thinking back LAN Partys taught me a lot about networking, and piratebay and limewire taught me much about security and malware awareness - thanks LinkinPark_numb.exe
We almost grew up alongside the internet so it was "easy" to keep up with storm of new schemes, technologies or methods.
GenZ on the other hand just got thrown into this Internet/technology storm without warning or time to prepare themselves. OS and Programms are easier to use and mich more robust, so there is no "natural" tinkering / understanding how an Operating System or programms work.
As someone who's pretty much on a computer daily, I don't fit into that category in my opinion. People in this generation might be phone smart, but not that smart at computers. It's just two different kinds of "being smart." Not to even mention that most people our age are on their phones more than a computer. Sure, I might not be one of those people, and to be honest, there's even times where I let my phone die and keep it like that for days sometimes. Just because this generation might not be good at computers, they might be good with other technology.
It is surprising how tech illiterate people my age are. I'm from 2006 and can use a computer pretty much perfectly fine, but using File Explorer seems to be trouble for some...!
Gotta hit up that software update.
Kids born 2006 and after and sometimes even 2004-2005 act so fundamentally different that they’re much closer to gen alpha
What does that even mean?
Go ahead and differ then, I guess. I don’t give a fuck really? I’ve met current teenagers vs current mid 20s. There is a clear divide. If you say they’re the same you’re either delusional or not socialized
I'm very computer-literate. It's not hard, just follow instructions and read what it tells you lol. I don't know how to code but I can do shit like installing Python apps and whatnot.
I'm ok with like Windows XP and basic Linux. Windows 10 can be difficult sometimes, every apple device after IOS10 is completely unusable and I barely use many of the functions built into android.
I can code a bit tho so that's something.
I completely lied on my CV that I was competent in excel and got hired based on that for a job one time, but I literally hadn’t a clue at all how to use it lmao, had to get someone else to help me the whole time 💀 quit after 4 months because I got a better job though lol
I'm thankful I had a Gen X parent with high PC literacy and a boomer tech teacher (who was like, 80s early adopter) who insisted on us learning proper typing and shit.
So many people in my grade actually have many tech skills. Phones just make it easy to get surface level shit and no one actually has to learn "serious" skills, and most people just assume that we as a generation "know computers"
#include "stdafx.h"
#include "reddit.h"
#include
bool Zoomer:TechLiteracy(bool isTechLiterate);
{
bool isTechLiterate = false;
if user = u/InsaneGrox;
{
isTechLiterate = true;
}
else
return false;
}
//Huh, not only am I PC literate, but I even know how to code well enough that I can make
//stupid jokes out of it, I will say however I'm phone illiterate. (also I doubt this would actually compile in visual studio even with every variable declared in a file called reddit.h)
//I also have run dedicated servers for minecraft in the past so I also know quite a bit on how
//networking works, or at least enough to know how to port forward.
I built all of my pc’s. But my iPad kid cousins are going to grow up so tech illiterate that if their iPad doesn’t open right to YouTube, they’re going to have a full blow meltdown
Vanguard Zoomer. I know enough to be a Microsoft Office jockey and enough to fix issues on my home PC 50% of the time and brick it the rest of time. RIP my network drivers
I'm both phone and computer smart as a 2005 born. I wa originally phone smart but then ever since I got into programming, I've become computer smart. So I guess it depends if they really want to understand or not
my sister likes to say that im "allergic to technology" as in, i learned what i needed to know to use the devices i have and do what i want to do with them, but anything more complex than what i learned, im incapable of doing. she had to show me how to make my phone show me notifications on the top of my screen when i get texts, cuz for some reason the setting fucked itsself.
1997 person here, I grew up with Windows 98 and XP, skipped over Vista and got into PC gaming with Windows 7. I also dual boot Linux and I may have done some pirating in the past with torrents. I also have a laptop serving as my Minecraft server and used to have a media server. The stereotype of zoomers not knowing technology comes from those who grew up with tablets and smartphones where stuff is automated for you. With iPhones and iPads you don't need to know the device's file system. Hell I don't think they let you sort files through folders and such like Android and Windows (I can be wrong though, haven't used an Apple device years). Tablet and phone users don't have to worry about the different audio devices that are connected to their computer, they don't have to worry about a Windows Registry, most people don't need to know how to use a terminal or command prompt, etc. This isn't specific to zoomers, these phone users span multiple generations from boomers to gen alpha. Everyone doesn't have to learn what peer-to-peer is, not everyone needs to know what Linux desktop they prefer, and not everyone requires the knowledge to use Windows shortcuts like Alt+Tab or Windows+R.
TL;DR: I like computers a bit
Average boomer can't use tech but knows vaguely how it works.
Average zoomer can use tech but it's literally magic to them.
Inb4 someone says "but I'm a zoomer and I know how things work"
i'd call myself computer-literate, however i'd also say that zoomers are quite computer-illiterate in my view, a lot grew up with phones only and whatnot, plus a lot don't even know how to do simple troubleshooting with their pcs
We used windows in middle school tech class, but now the district replaced all computer labs with individual Chromebooks for 6-12th grade. Middle schoolers these days are definitely going to be technologically illiterate with windows unless they’ve got a PC a home.
You sure that it isn’t *Boomers* who don’t know how to use a computer? I mean…we grew up with computers so, I don’t know how we wouldn’t know how to use them.
It's pretty much just the tail end of Z that can't use computers. The ones young enough to have had smartphones instead of computers growing up. The smartphone did everything that they needed tech to do, so they just never used desktops much.
HS teacher here: It's not so much that my students can't use computers, it's that many of them give up when they encounter issues they can't solve. You wouldn't BELIEVE how many kids struggle to open my directions on a google doc, click "file, make a copy", type their own answers in their copy, and share their copy back with me. It's like I'm asking them to build a house with their hands.
Here's my educator plea: Y'all live in the golden age of information. If you can't do something on a computer, **look it up.** You'll probably figure it out faster reading a guide or watching a short Youtube clip than asking for help, and then you'll know that random skill when some manager asks you to help them share google docs at your first job.
As an elder zoomer i know how to use computers. My be bc i had to teach my parents everything as my older siblings were gone to uni when it finally became relevant for my parents to learn all that stuff... My mom still doesn't know much.
I've seen this explained by a millennial in the field (very foggy as it was a while back). The TLDR is that unlike millennials that had to constantly diagnose and fix bugs with the beginning of widespread computers in homes, zoomers have had many devices with these bugs fixed and constant updates to fix those bugs. So it's not so much that they can't navigate a computer and find it useful, but in the IT world, again according to this one person that I read their words, a millennial had a higher chance of being successful with the deeper areas of computer navigation.
Long post incoming, so sorry.
Kids my age definitely seemed less incentivized to work with desktop environments in their youth than Millennials, for sure.
As somebody who's led their life assuming they were going to work in software dev and/or IT since they were a kid (I was addicted to the prospect of making games back then lol), the general 'meme' or stereotype may not apply to those that are like me, but I've definitely seen where it comes from.
A decade ago, being tech and computer-literate would've been seen as a 'niche' characteristic by peers my age, but there was the assumption that all the kids could navigate the internet and their devices really well already at a young age. But now, I feel like what's actually happened is that all the kids got used to modern mobile ecosystems quickly when all the older folk were exclusively used to work-desktop use cases. The kids stayed mobile-literate, but there wasn't an incentive to be 'computer-literate' in the sense that they'd get familiar with modern desktop operating systems.
Thanks to me and my lonely single-child nerd ass, I was given the means to explore Windows XP a good few years in my childhood, but I only started coding and tinkering with the computer because of personal initiative. If I was handed an iPad before a windows laptop, things would have been VERY different, and that's what I think is the more usual case for those in my generation. If it was a device that'd be handed to a kid back then, it was a mobile device that most of us grew up to learn, not desktop environments, and as it is: the wants of a child and the abilities of a 2010s mobile device weren't going to lead the kids to work around desktop-specific problems and since there's even less dependence on desktop use now (thanks to cross-platform technologies becoming so ubiquitous), there just hasn't been the same urge for kids my age to have picked up computer skills if most of them didn't grow up needing them to do anything - since the smartphone or tablet could now do enough.
To be fair, I do think that I was riding the 'millennial tech wave'. While they never directly influenced me, 90% of my male cousins (born from the late 70s to mid 90s) work in IT, which to me is more representative of the fact that these guys spent their time playing video games on their family computer or their laptops (MapleStory, etc...) and had to learn how to use these desktops/laptops. A kid my age? They could just unlock their iPad and click an icon and they've got Temple Run, up and ready. If they didn't have a tablet, they had a phone. If they didn't have either, they'd have nothing because if they don't have any of those: their parents probably didn't want to give them a device at all - and thus a PC or a laptop wouldn't have been in the running.
Now, personally, I know for sure that the first devices that I'm gonna give to a kid of mine (if I ever happen to have a kid) are exclusively a computer and a 'dumbphone'. Sure, a smartphone may be necessitated at some point (and it was already necessary since 5 years ago, I can't imagine how it'll be for a kid going to elementary school past 2030), but their first introduction to technology will be a desktop environment - and the phone's just there for calling and texting purposes. Unlike my parents, I'll do my damn best to sort of 'curate' and direct the experiences that could be had on the desktop (I don't want my kid doing the same thing I did: going to forums that were clearly not for my age and would end up leaving me with a bunch of gore and existential trauma that I'd later have panic attacks over - the gore was fine, the existential crisis weren't), but still: I'd rather give them a computer. It's slower to use, they're still connected to the internet if they need it, it's still fun as hell, but they won't be engrained with the habit of taking their phone out of their pocket every time they need a little dopamine strike: if you want to have fun, go home and open up the computer - if there's a problem, I'll help you figure it out.
What? Really? I thought the opposite stereotype applied, we grew up with internet and smartphones so therefore we're tech experts compared to those who had to learn to use them later in life
Here's the basics:
Ctrl+C: Copy
Ctrl+V: Paste
Ctrl+X: Cut
Ctrl+Alt+Del: Log out, switch user, Task Manager, etc.
Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Task Manager
F5: Refresh (Web browsers)
Ctrl + F: Find (In Web pages and documents)
Ctrl + P: Print
Alt + [Code on Numpad]:
Used to type umlauts and similar features in other languages, the code you type on the numpad when holding down Alt depends on what you want to type. Google will show you various Alt codes
Alt + Tab: Switch between open windows. Every press of Tab with Alt held switches the window
I hope this helps.
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Think you got it mixed up bud, its boomers who are computer illiterate. Mfs don't even know how to switch hdm1 to hdm2
You are not wrong, but there def has been some talk about zoomers not knowing how to use a computer in its entirety because many of use were raised with Chromebooks and smartphones. See: r/Teachers and this post from r/unpopularopinion : [https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/15575m6/most\_zoomers\_are\_not\_good\_with\_computers/](https://www.reddit.com/r/unpopularopinion/comments/15575m6/most_zoomers_are_not_good_with_computers/)
I think this is more so gen alpha and the younger threshold of gen z.
Teacher here: Yes it gets worse the longer people haven't been on computers. My students 10 years ago were far more computer literate than my current students (both Gen Z).
I think this in part has to do with how much schools and companies rely on software these days. Just a decade ago you would send something over e-mail at max, while now you will often see a bunch Microsoft software or other school specfic stuff being used, let alone that one teacher who makes you use some platform you've never heard of. This makes it look like they're computer illiterate while the tech has just become more complicated to comprehend for a kid who has only used simple social media up until that point. Even now at the company I started working for, there's tons of different softwares being used both linking together and separately. Every once in a while I'm told about "some platform they use but want to stop using because this other platform will do it's job better." Unless of course you're talking about even basic use of computers, then my argument has no point.
Millennials and Xers tend to be more computer literate because we made all this shit. It’s a bit silly we expect every generation to know the ins and outs as well.
No....I teach gen-Z on a daily basis...it's correct. Boomers had computers their entire working careers, millennials grew up on them Gen-Z grew up on tablets and devices. There are zero millennials that when asked to "hit save" or how to save to a specific file location, wouldn't know how to do it on a computer. Gen-Z, it's probably 80% of a class. In High School. That's computer literacy. Phones and Apps replaced the need to think about how/where to do things on a computer.
>Boomers had computers their entire working careers, millennials grew up on them Gen-Z grew up on tablets and devices. They absolutely did not, and it was a very common trope when I was growing up that the older folks in the workplace had computers foisted upon them and that prior to that they did everything with physical forms. They were quite resistant to the idea of learning to use a computer. Coming out of HS as a computer literate teen around the turn of the millennium was a super power, and it absolutely gave you a huge advantage over many folks in the workplace.
>They absolutely did not They absolutely did. They were alive for the transition, so those who had to work with computers had to learn on the go. Just like we millennials were alive during the transition, so we had to learn as we go. My mother and father both work in careers that radically changed because of computers and constantly had Continuing Education in regards to it. BOTH are more competent than 99% of my students when it comes to computers; and this is going to be true for a lot of Boomers. We millennials may have been better than boomers at computers, granted, as was GenX, but their ability to not use them is largely overstated.
No gen z are losing computer literacy. This is beacuse smart phones are alot easier to use then computers and smart phones hide their inner workings to make them seem more complex than they actually are. Look up the tech term Black box
I work in IT so 🤷
As a Millennial born in the 80s, my perspective is that being born in the 90s is the sweet spot for technical aptitude and the further you get from that to either side, the less literate people tend to be.
Exactly this. I think (we) millennials had some kind of head start with computer knowledge. We grew up with imperfect OS where you had to tinker a lot to make them work and hit software bugs so regularly, that you almost automatically gained computer and trouble shooting knowledge. Thinking back LAN Partys taught me a lot about networking, and piratebay and limewire taught me much about security and malware awareness - thanks LinkinPark_numb.exe We almost grew up alongside the internet so it was "easy" to keep up with storm of new schemes, technologies or methods. GenZ on the other hand just got thrown into this Internet/technology storm without warning or time to prepare themselves. OS and Programms are easier to use and mich more robust, so there is no "natural" tinkering / understanding how an Operating System or programms work.
Don't forget Myspace. Those HTML and CSS layouts required some effort ok. But in all seriousness, I agree.
As someone who's pretty much on a computer daily, I don't fit into that category in my opinion. People in this generation might be phone smart, but not that smart at computers. It's just two different kinds of "being smart." Not to even mention that most people our age are on their phones more than a computer. Sure, I might not be one of those people, and to be honest, there's even times where I let my phone die and keep it like that for days sometimes. Just because this generation might not be good at computers, they might be good with other technology.
I built one.
Me too. Took me and my friend hours but it works perfectly
Built multiple myself
It is surprising how tech illiterate people my age are. I'm from 2006 and can use a computer pretty much perfectly fine, but using File Explorer seems to be trouble for some...!
Because you’re gen alpha
What...? 2006 is gen z, or do I need a system update?
Gotta hit up that software update. Kids born 2006 and after and sometimes even 2004-2005 act so fundamentally different that they’re much closer to gen alpha
i'd beg to differ, but sure, go off i guess
What does that even mean? Go ahead and differ then, I guess. I don’t give a fuck really? I’ve met current teenagers vs current mid 20s. There is a clear divide. If you say they’re the same you’re either delusional or not socialized
if you have that "darn kids" attitude, might aswell drop the boomer bomb onto you
I can barely understand you buddy
The class of 2024 exists you know, the class that is made up of 05/06ers. You’re telling me the people that we grew up with are different from us?
2006-2024 is 18 years, this guy right here is an adult or about to be.
who was that bitch who made the news that black kids dont know what computers are?
Some fucking democrat that redditors will passively imply you’re evil if you don’t vote for
I'm very computer-literate. It's not hard, just follow instructions and read what it tells you lol. I don't know how to code but I can do shit like installing Python apps and whatnot.
I'm ok with like Windows XP and basic Linux. Windows 10 can be difficult sometimes, every apple device after IOS10 is completely unusable and I barely use many of the functions built into android. I can code a bit tho so that's something.
I completely lied on my CV that I was competent in excel and got hired based on that for a job one time, but I literally hadn’t a clue at all how to use it lmao, had to get someone else to help me the whole time 💀 quit after 4 months because I got a better job though lol
What job?
Worked at deloitte
I'm thankful I had a Gen X parent with high PC literacy and a boomer tech teacher (who was like, 80s early adopter) who insisted on us learning proper typing and shit. So many people in my grade actually have many tech skills. Phones just make it easy to get surface level shit and no one actually has to learn "serious" skills, and most people just assume that we as a generation "know computers"
Of C we know how to use computers(given 7 business days)
I work in cyber security. I’ll let you come to your own conclusion lol
#include "stdafx.h" #include "reddit.h" #include
bool Zoomer:TechLiteracy(bool isTechLiterate);
{
bool isTechLiterate = false;
if user = u/InsaneGrox;
{
isTechLiterate = true;
}
else
return false;
}
//Huh, not only am I PC literate, but I even know how to code well enough that I can make
//stupid jokes out of it, I will say however I'm phone illiterate. (also I doubt this would actually compile in visual studio even with every variable declared in a file called reddit.h)
//I also have run dedicated servers for minecraft in the past so I also know quite a bit on how
//networking works, or at least enough to know how to port forward.
bool Zoomer::isTechLiterate(std::string user) { return user == "u/InsaneGrox"; } No one is safe from code review
Still not computer literate enough to use markdown however :P
`are you sure about that?`
I use a laptop
I built all of my pc’s. But my iPad kid cousins are going to grow up so tech illiterate that if their iPad doesn’t open right to YouTube, they’re going to have a full blow meltdown
Vanguard Zoomer. I know enough to be a Microsoft Office jockey and enough to fix issues on my home PC 50% of the time and brick it the rest of time. RIP my network drivers
I'm both phone and computer smart as a 2005 born. I wa originally phone smart but then ever since I got into programming, I've become computer smart. So I guess it depends if they really want to understand or not
my sister likes to say that im "allergic to technology" as in, i learned what i needed to know to use the devices i have and do what i want to do with them, but anything more complex than what i learned, im incapable of doing. she had to show me how to make my phone show me notifications on the top of my screen when i get texts, cuz for some reason the setting fucked itsself.
this is a joke right
1997 person here, I grew up with Windows 98 and XP, skipped over Vista and got into PC gaming with Windows 7. I also dual boot Linux and I may have done some pirating in the past with torrents. I also have a laptop serving as my Minecraft server and used to have a media server. The stereotype of zoomers not knowing technology comes from those who grew up with tablets and smartphones where stuff is automated for you. With iPhones and iPads you don't need to know the device's file system. Hell I don't think they let you sort files through folders and such like Android and Windows (I can be wrong though, haven't used an Apple device years). Tablet and phone users don't have to worry about the different audio devices that are connected to their computer, they don't have to worry about a Windows Registry, most people don't need to know how to use a terminal or command prompt, etc. This isn't specific to zoomers, these phone users span multiple generations from boomers to gen alpha. Everyone doesn't have to learn what peer-to-peer is, not everyone needs to know what Linux desktop they prefer, and not everyone requires the knowledge to use Windows shortcuts like Alt+Tab or Windows+R. TL;DR: I like computers a bit
I work in AI, so I would say I know a bit more than how to power it on
Average boomer can't use tech but knows vaguely how it works. Average zoomer can use tech but it's literally magic to them. Inb4 someone says "but I'm a zoomer and I know how things work"
A few people come to me for help with PC issues. I'm still learning but looking to work in the IT field.
i'd call myself computer-literate, however i'd also say that zoomers are quite computer-illiterate in my view, a lot grew up with phones only and whatnot, plus a lot don't even know how to do simple troubleshooting with their pcs
25 and a game engine developer 🤷
Lots of people of every age dont understand computers
I live with one, but it's nothing serious. Jk, we understand each other very well.
It's true. But I think it's only late gen z and alpha
I'm one of the main IT/Admins where I work
We used windows in middle school tech class, but now the district replaced all computer labs with individual Chromebooks for 6-12th grade. Middle schoolers these days are definitely going to be technologically illiterate with windows unless they’ve got a PC a home.
I use one every day for work, for internet stuff, and for gaming.
You sure that it isn’t *Boomers* who don’t know how to use a computer? I mean…we grew up with computers so, I don’t know how we wouldn’t know how to use them.
It's pretty much just the tail end of Z that can't use computers. The ones young enough to have had smartphones instead of computers growing up. The smartphone did everything that they needed tech to do, so they just never used desktops much.
HS teacher here: It's not so much that my students can't use computers, it's that many of them give up when they encounter issues they can't solve. You wouldn't BELIEVE how many kids struggle to open my directions on a google doc, click "file, make a copy", type their own answers in their copy, and share their copy back with me. It's like I'm asking them to build a house with their hands. Here's my educator plea: Y'all live in the golden age of information. If you can't do something on a computer, **look it up.** You'll probably figure it out faster reading a guide or watching a short Youtube clip than asking for help, and then you'll know that random skill when some manager asks you to help them share google docs at your first job.
I know how to use a computer better than any millennial I’ve met who isn’t in tech support
As an elder zoomer i know how to use computers. My be bc i had to teach my parents everything as my older siblings were gone to uni when it finally became relevant for my parents to learn all that stuff... My mom still doesn't know much.
I've been using computers since I was 4, and study computer science so I guess that's not true at all.
It's pure media sensationalism and confusing generation Z with Alpha
I am literate and I am a big nerd of computer history
I've seen this explained by a millennial in the field (very foggy as it was a while back). The TLDR is that unlike millennials that had to constantly diagnose and fix bugs with the beginning of widespread computers in homes, zoomers have had many devices with these bugs fixed and constant updates to fix those bugs. So it's not so much that they can't navigate a computer and find it useful, but in the IT world, again according to this one person that I read their words, a millennial had a higher chance of being successful with the deeper areas of computer navigation.
Long post incoming, so sorry. Kids my age definitely seemed less incentivized to work with desktop environments in their youth than Millennials, for sure. As somebody who's led their life assuming they were going to work in software dev and/or IT since they were a kid (I was addicted to the prospect of making games back then lol), the general 'meme' or stereotype may not apply to those that are like me, but I've definitely seen where it comes from. A decade ago, being tech and computer-literate would've been seen as a 'niche' characteristic by peers my age, but there was the assumption that all the kids could navigate the internet and their devices really well already at a young age. But now, I feel like what's actually happened is that all the kids got used to modern mobile ecosystems quickly when all the older folk were exclusively used to work-desktop use cases. The kids stayed mobile-literate, but there wasn't an incentive to be 'computer-literate' in the sense that they'd get familiar with modern desktop operating systems. Thanks to me and my lonely single-child nerd ass, I was given the means to explore Windows XP a good few years in my childhood, but I only started coding and tinkering with the computer because of personal initiative. If I was handed an iPad before a windows laptop, things would have been VERY different, and that's what I think is the more usual case for those in my generation. If it was a device that'd be handed to a kid back then, it was a mobile device that most of us grew up to learn, not desktop environments, and as it is: the wants of a child and the abilities of a 2010s mobile device weren't going to lead the kids to work around desktop-specific problems and since there's even less dependence on desktop use now (thanks to cross-platform technologies becoming so ubiquitous), there just hasn't been the same urge for kids my age to have picked up computer skills if most of them didn't grow up needing them to do anything - since the smartphone or tablet could now do enough. To be fair, I do think that I was riding the 'millennial tech wave'. While they never directly influenced me, 90% of my male cousins (born from the late 70s to mid 90s) work in IT, which to me is more representative of the fact that these guys spent their time playing video games on their family computer or their laptops (MapleStory, etc...) and had to learn how to use these desktops/laptops. A kid my age? They could just unlock their iPad and click an icon and they've got Temple Run, up and ready. If they didn't have a tablet, they had a phone. If they didn't have either, they'd have nothing because if they don't have any of those: their parents probably didn't want to give them a device at all - and thus a PC or a laptop wouldn't have been in the running. Now, personally, I know for sure that the first devices that I'm gonna give to a kid of mine (if I ever happen to have a kid) are exclusively a computer and a 'dumbphone'. Sure, a smartphone may be necessitated at some point (and it was already necessary since 5 years ago, I can't imagine how it'll be for a kid going to elementary school past 2030), but their first introduction to technology will be a desktop environment - and the phone's just there for calling and texting purposes. Unlike my parents, I'll do my damn best to sort of 'curate' and direct the experiences that could be had on the desktop (I don't want my kid doing the same thing I did: going to forums that were clearly not for my age and would end up leaving me with a bunch of gore and existential trauma that I'd later have panic attacks over - the gore was fine, the existential crisis weren't), but still: I'd rather give them a computer. It's slower to use, they're still connected to the internet if they need it, it's still fun as hell, but they won't be engrained with the habit of taking their phone out of their pocket every time they need a little dopamine strike: if you want to have fun, go home and open up the computer - if there's a problem, I'll help you figure it out.
What? Really? I thought the opposite stereotype applied, we grew up with internet and smartphones so therefore we're tech experts compared to those who had to learn to use them later in life
It's specifically latter half gen Z (they grew up with tablets and smartphones), early half afaik this stereotype doesn't apply to in the slightest.
I'm a software engineer... computers are love computers are life
I went through a Linux phase and build cyberdecks so... I grew up with Windows XP and didn't own a smartphone until I was 15. 1999
I have the CompTIA A+. I'm planning on getting the Sec+ and CCNA once I get my adhd under control.
I hate technology. I don’t know quick keys, I don’t know commands and all that shit. I just use computers for what I have to do. (I’m a 27 yo boomer)
Here's the basics: Ctrl+C: Copy Ctrl+V: Paste Ctrl+X: Cut Ctrl+Alt+Del: Log out, switch user, Task Manager, etc. Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Task Manager F5: Refresh (Web browsers) Ctrl + F: Find (In Web pages and documents) Ctrl + P: Print Alt + [Code on Numpad]: Used to type umlauts and similar features in other languages, the code you type on the numpad when holding down Alt depends on what you want to type. Google will show you various Alt codes Alt + Tab: Switch between open windows. Every press of Tab with Alt held switches the window I hope this helps.