cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27501866
source: @n7gifmdn@lemmy.ca
2 generations. Gen X and Millennials are both of the right age to properly understand computers.
this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025
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iiiiiiitttttttttttt
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you know the computer thing is it plugged in?
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To put a finer point on it, it specifically the younger Gen Xers and older Millennials. That’s the “one” generation this post describes.
I'm on the older end of Gen Xers and at least the nerdier half of us not only know how to use computers, but we've seen the whole evolution of home computing since the Altair. We know in a way you never can why goto is considered harmful.
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I've trained a lot of 18-22 y/os in the last 10 years and they are fine. Let's not become the boomers please...
Yeah, being dumb is hardware-agnostic. As some guy put it, "being stupid isn't a big deal anymore; some of my best friends are stupid".
It just stunlocks me a little bit as younger people have been around tech their whole life, unlike boomers, who were born before computers.
"been around tech their whole life" more like they have a locked down phone, locked down game console and MAYBE a desktop computer. It's too rounded out and consumer friendly now, you never have to peek under the hood.
Unlike with boomers, this shit was your fault. Y'all refused to kill off iPhone and macbooks and chromebooks and Windows and now this is the world we live in.
I felt like an idiot the other day. Customer sent in a pdf with confidential information. I needed to upload the document without the confidential information but only have the free Adobe. I normally redact the information in paint but paint wouldn't accept the file format.
I ended up asking a gen x teammate and she instantly told me to use the snipping tool which solved my problem. Thank you Gen X coworkers
Classic Lemmy Linux users forgetting that access to a PC and the knowledge to use it is a privilege not afforded to most unlike budget smartphones which cost less than the keyboard you own and are becoming more and more of a necessity than a trivial toy as it was when we first had them.
Lamenting generational failures is a pastime reserved for the old to soothe their egos. If you actually care, understand the systemic reasons why young people are less tech literate and take the steps to reach them.
I bought a 2013 MacBook Air for $60 a year ago to take with me on a backpacking trip.
It is running the very latest release of EndeavourOS and runs it well. It can do video calls. Honestly, there is little it cannot do.
You can use it to learn to program C, C++, Rust, Python, Go, Java, C#, and F#. It runs Distrobox and Docker so you can learn about containers. I guess after using QEMU/KVM to learn about VMs. You can use it to run K3S. You can run Postman, RestAssured, and Selenium to learn about Web APIs and testing. It runs WASM. You can orchestrate AWS or Azure from it as it runs both Terraform and OpenTofu great. It can run a host of cybersecurity tools including BurpSuite. You can run both SQL and Document databases. You can use it to package your own software and contribute to Linux distro development. You can emulate older machines and even run digital design tools and PCB layout. Obviously it runs all the major modern web browsers and a couple different Office suites. It can even do basic video editing and run smaller LLMs. It can run Steam if you are happy with older games. I know it can do all these things because I have.
Without going on and on, I think you could use it to rotate a PDF.
It comes with keyboard, trackpad, screen, and networking built in. It takes up hardly any space. And it is considerably less expensive than most phones and tablets. Of course, there are many less expensive computers that would also do the trick if you cannot afford $60 and just want to learn.
I don’t think you can argue that basic computer skills are elitist. We are not talking F1 racing here.
The thing is most of us cant even rotate a pdf, but we do know how to learn it.
The only reason we have to rotate the PDFs is because they can't figure out how to use the sheet-feed scanner. Theres a picture embossed in the thing! And a sign that we put next to the button!
Well yeah I didn't learn at all about computers even in high school, when students did use a computer it was a cheap Chromebook. I bearly grew up with computers and thats the same for most people, the difference is I have autism so I hyprfocus on computers :3
As a dev, the divide between apps users and computer software users is fascinating. My mom can do things in instagram or whatsapp that I didn't even know possible.. but put her in front of a modern computer with a simple application and she's completely lost! I try to explain that it's exactly the same as her phone its just a larger screen/physical keybaord with different apps, doesn't seem to help.
The most satisfying joke in Questionable Content is one when robot asks another, 'the hell is a PDF?'
I teach high school and it's amazing to me how much these kids don't know how to use a computer. They can click a button and get to tik-tok. They read the first answer the AI gives them. That's it.
I keep telling them they should be better at computers than an old lady like me.
They read the first answer the AI gives them.
This is why Im terrified of my parents learning how to use ChatGPT.
My dad still falls for satire. It took us years to convince him the tabloids in supermarkets about Bigfoot weren't real.
He's not a smart guy. But He's still my dad though.
Gen X checking in here. I’m actually happy to be left out of the memes. Carry on.
I am gen z and know how to use a computer
Most of us should have been taught how to use computers in school then we expand our knowledge from there on our own
Is this an american only problem?
I'm not American. I'm also Gen z, but the older parts are typically better at computers.
People are as experienced in computers as their use case is
No one is better at computers than someone else, everyone has different tasks and workflows they use them for
Computer skill isn't linear
It'd be more accurate to say someone is more experienced in their industry area or specific skill, they just use a computer to make the tasks they perform easier
Computers are so intergrated into most things theese days that it'd be very hard to find someone not using one to make their life easier and most jobs are using computers to make it easier and organise better
Just helped build my 12 year old cousin his first computer and was forced into putting Windows on it. Now, I get that it's important that he at least understand what the "normal OS" is, but I did want to put at least Mint or something on there. Zoomers and Alpha really don't know how to navigate even the basics, though, and this kid was no exception.
Well, technically I wanted to put something based on Arch but even I know that's a bad idea for a sink or swim computer moment.
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There's one generation between boomers and zoomers? I'm pretty confident I know who it is you're forgetting.
Gen X: the forgotten generation.
LOAD"*",8,1 generation
I would but i'm too busy blowing on my atari carts
Boomers: analogue phones and rolodexes. The nerdy ones knew Morse Code, though.
Gen X: grew up with picture books on assembly language programming
Millennials: know how to use Microsoft Word and Photoshop. Perhaps can unfuck Windows Registry keys if needed.
GenZ: “What’s a file?”
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Just think about gen alpha
To be fair, I don't actually know how to rotate a pdf. I re-learn it every few years, then immediately forget it again.
it depends on the person. some zoomers are great with tech, hardware and software. others aren't. same goes for every generation. this reeks of the "haha let's shit on the younger generations" millennials have been mad about for years
Yeah I suspect what's happening is that plenty of boomers were actually just bad at tech but they got to use the excuse that they didn't grow up with it. Any gen z people that are bad at tech don't have that excuse so it seems like they're stupid, when in reality there have always been stupid people or people who just aren't interested.
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