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The thing I've noticed about the younger generation is that they are better at consuming tech intuitively, but mostly have no idea what makes it work. They seem

The thing I've noticed about the younger generation is that they are better at consuming tech intuitively, but mostly have no idea what makes it work. They seem to be able to use technology almost instinctively, but if they have to troubleshoot or create anything they don't know where to start. You have to design UI for 'digital natives' to be just as user friendly as you would for baby boomers that didn't see their first computer until after they were grown. Both of them would be equally lost if you plopped them down at a terminal with nothing but a blinking cursor. This is generalizing, of course, there are exceptions. Anecdotally the only thing that separates a 9 year old and a 60 year old is that the 60 year old won't want to touch a computer because they are afraid they will break something and the 9 year old will mash away until they get where they want to go. Neither knows or cares how or why it works.

irrational 7y ago
This has been my experience. I have kids from 6 to 23. They all come running to me anytime they have a technical issue. I’ve tried to teach them troubleshooting steps or how to search for help, but they aren’t interested. As far as they are concerned it should just work and if it doesn’t it’s someone else’s job to figure out why. Their friends all appear to be the same. I know of only one teenager who has a glimmer of interest in understanding what is happening behind the screen.
Spooky23 7y ago
TV and radio was the same way. My grandfather knew how to replace tubes and test circuits. I knew about adjusting antennas. My son’s technical knowledge of TV is charging the remote, rebooting the router and reseating connectors.
- CDSlice 7y ago
  That actually seems pretty good, especially since if you aren't using an over the air antenna there isn't much else you can do with modern flat screen TVs.
  - Spooky23 7y ago
    I agree! As things get mature, there’s no need to tinker.
jccalhoun 7y ago
I was talking to some of my fellow Gen-X friends and we are jokingly complaining that kids these days don't even know how to pirate things. If it isn't on a streaming service they don't know how to access it.
matheusmoreira 7y ago
How could they understand how things work? The technology, the computer itself is hidden behind user experiences. http://contemporary-home-computing.org/RUE/ http://contemporary-home-computing.org/RUE/ > This approach leads to some great products on screen and IRL, but alienates as well. > Robotics doesn’t give us a chance to fall in love with the computer if it is not anthropomorphic. Experience design prevents from thinking and valuing computers as computers, and interfaces as interfaces. > It makes us helpless. We lose an ability to narrate ourselves and—going to a more pragmatic level—we are not able to use personal computers anymore. > Every victory of experience design: a new product “telling the story,” or an interface meeting the “exact needs of the customer, without fuss or bother” widens the gap in between a person and a personal computer. > The morning after “experience design:” interface-less, desposible hardware, personal hard disc shredders, primitive customization via mechanical means, rewiring, reassembling, making holes into hard disks, in order to to delete, to logout, to “view offline.”

irrational 7y ago

This has been my experience. I have kids from 6 to 23. They all come running to me anytime they have a technical issue. I’ve tried to teach them troubleshooting steps or how to search for help, but they aren’t interested. As far as they are concerned it should just work and if it doesn’t it’s someone else’s job to figure out why. Their friends all appear to be the same. I know of only one teenager who has a glimmer of interest in understanding what is happening behind the screen.

Spooky23 7y ago

TV and radio was the same way. My grandfather knew how to replace tubes and test circuits. I knew about adjusting antennas. My son’s technical knowledge of TV is charging the remote, rebooting the router and reseating connectors.

CDSlice 7y ago
That actually seems pretty good, especially since if you aren't using an over the air antenna there isn't much else you can do with modern flat screen TVs.
- Spooky23 7y ago
  I agree! As things get mature, there’s no need to tinker.

jccalhoun 7y ago

I was talking to some of my fellow Gen-X friends and we are jokingly complaining that kids these days don't even know how to pirate things. If it isn't on a streaming service they don't know how to access it.

matheusmoreira 7y ago

How could they understand how things work? The technology, the computer itself is hidden behind user experiences. http://contemporary-home-computing.org/RUE/ http://contemporary-home-computing.org/RUE/ > This approach leads to some great products on screen and IRL, but alienates as well. > Robotics doesn’t give us a chance to fall in love with the computer if it is not anthropomorphic. Experience design prevents from thinking and valuing computers as computers, and interfaces as interfaces. > It makes us helpless. We lose an ability to narrate ourselves and—going to a more pragmatic level—we are not able to use personal computers anymore. > Every victory of experience design: a new product “telling the story,” or an interface meeting the “exact needs of the customer, without fuss or bother” widens the gap in between a person and a personal computer. > The morning after “experience design:” interface-less, desposible hardware, personal hard disc shredders, primitive customization via mechanical means, rewiring, reassembling, making holes into hard disks, in order to to delete, to logout, to “view offline.”