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I'm seeing this right now, I grew up programming (started at 7), at 9 I was way more computer fluent than my 9 year old step-son is now. I think it's simply th

I'm seeing this right now, I grew up programming (started at 7), at 9 I was way more computer fluent than my 9 year old step-son is now. I think it's simply that modern machines are (generally) so reliable that you never have to get under the hood to figure out what broke until you (rarely) do and then you have no conceptual framework for trying to resolve what is broken. His trouble shooting process is handing it to me and telling me "it's not working". I refuse to fix it unless he watches and pays attention to how I'm fixing it, slowly he's starting to understand that none of this stuff is magic. I don't care if has no interest in computers generally but I think it's important that he realises the devices/technology he interacts with isn't just a magic black box. He was interested in what I was programming the other day though so I told him we could build a website together as long as he chose the subject, wrote what he wanted to put on it and wrote the code with my supervision, inevitably it's going to be about Fortnite but I'll take whatever wins I can get. Generally I'll ask answer his questions with questions, we had a discussion about IP addresses the other day (though he had know idea what an IP address was) because he was curious how one computer "talks" to another so I asked a bunch of questions "Assuming you had lots of computers how would you tell one from the other" "I'd number them" "Ok, so what if you wanted to replace a computer but keep talking to it as if it was the old computer?" "I'd make it so the numbers could be changed for each computer", "OK, so you have millions of computers with millions of numbers how would you know which number went with which computer?" "well...I'd name them but in a way that I could say this name belongs to this number", I was proud, he pretty much figured out DNS without knowing DNS was a thing. So then I showed him the config panel for a web host and pointed out that his names and numbers where an actual thing.

pm90 8y ago
You're an amazing parent.
Godel_unicode 8y ago
Off topic, but you might be interested in this, it's an attempt at an API for fortnite stats etc. https://github.com/qlaffont/fortnite-api https://github.com/qlaffont/fortnite-api
jeena 8y ago
> I think it's simply that modern machines are (generally) so reliable that you never have to get under the hood to figure out what broke until you (rarely) do and then you have no conceptual framework for trying to resolve what is broken. You have the same problem with cars. When I was 18 I was able to disassemble and reassemble my car and basically fix anything which broke. I even replaced the bodywork one time after a crash. Today nobody even changes their summer-/winter-tires on their own anymore, let alone changing oil or renewing breaks. You could also say that the machines became so reliable and so complicated that most people don't need too look under the hood and if they need it's too complicated anyway.
- ecshafer 8y ago
  One issue with cars is that many of the simple tasks to cut your teeth on, can now require a lot of work. I had a car that you couldn't change the battery without removing a wheel and using a lift.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- BerislavLopac 8y ago
  Why is that a problem? This is the case with all technology that has potential to become utility. Nobody complains that they can't take their water from a nearby well any more, or that their letters don't take days to be delivered.
- TadaScientist 8y ago
  Life in larger cities has become so expensive that it's difficult spending money on a car or time to take a car apart and putting it back together. Some people do it but empirically, I think it's mostly chavs.
tehlike 8y ago
I grew up learning programming at early age. Things got more reliable, and more automatic too. Setting up a web page is easy, dynamic db apps are trivial now. In the pas you would have to do all that yourself However, if you somehow get into new areas, it feels similar. Like smart home tools of today are very badic and requires a lot of troubleshooting.

pm90 8y ago

You're an amazing parent.

Godel_unicode 8y ago

Off topic, but you might be interested in this, it's an attempt at an API for fortnite stats etc. https://github.com/qlaffont/fortnite-api https://github.com/qlaffont/fortnite-api

jeena 8y ago

> I think it's simply that modern machines are (generally) so reliable that you never have to get under the hood to figure out what broke until you (rarely) do and then you have no conceptual framework for trying to resolve what is broken. You have the same problem with cars. When I was 18 I was able to disassemble and reassemble my car and basically fix anything which broke. I even replaced the bodywork one time after a crash. Today nobody even changes their summer-/winter-tires on their own anymore, let alone changing oil or renewing breaks. You could also say that the machines became so reliable and so complicated that most people don't need too look under the hood and if they need it's too complicated anyway.

ecshafer 8y ago
One issue with cars is that many of the simple tasks to cut your teeth on, can now require a lot of work. I had a car that you couldn't change the battery without removing a wheel and using a lift.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
BerislavLopac 8y ago
Why is that a problem? This is the case with all technology that has potential to become utility. Nobody complains that they can't take their water from a nearby well any more, or that their letters don't take days to be delivered.
TadaScientist 8y ago
Life in larger cities has become so expensive that it's difficult spending money on a car or time to take a car apart and putting it back together. Some people do it but empirically, I think it's mostly chavs.

tehlike 8y ago

I grew up learning programming at early age. Things got more reliable, and more automatic too. Setting up a web page is easy, dynamic db apps are trivial now. In the pas you would have to do all that yourself However, if you somehow get into new areas, it feels similar. Like smart home tools of today are very badic and requires a lot of troubleshooting.