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Tell HN: Friend says their teen child can’t tell time from clockface

Can HN parents test this on their children? Do kids these days find it easier telling time on a traditional old fashioned clock face with hands or a digital clock with numbers?

pmontra 6y ago
I don't have children but my friends' kids agree that digital clocks are easier. After all, where do you find a clock with hands nowadays? You must intentionally buy one. Instead clocks with digits are everywhere.
ddingus 6y ago
My kids, now out of the house, can all tell time in analog, hand form, and could as very young kids. They were '00 era kids and I had fun exposing them to older tech. Was not too notable. Their fave was a turntable and that pile of great 12" singles. They hated, and I mean viscerally hated the old dial bell telephone proper! Solid, well expressed hate, except for audio quality. They noticed, unprompted. Computers, games, etc... all were just fun, no big. For a couple years, I had an HP Palmtop in the car for road trips. They played text adventure games on it. One of the oldest would read and the group would decide what to do. Wonder if they remember now? One child is struggling with meth so I am raising another little one now. The gap is much larger now too! Can really feel it. So far, she cannot read an analog clock. We just discussed getting one too. I will look around for a cool one with a continuous second hand and great markings. (No marks can come later) She LOVES VHS! A neighbor sold an entire Disney VHS collection for 20 bucks. I have a good VCR for capturing old family movies, so I bought it just on a lark, curious. Papa, it does stuff, makes noises! What is rewind? I don't like rewind papa. Do I thank it for giving the movie back to me when it is all done? I will be frank. Some of this fun makes me feel old. But, I sometimes feel young too! Memories come back and it is real fun to explore things through her very different eyes. I will also say the UX work is paying off in some respects. I feel we are hobbling skilled users at times, but new ones have it very good in some respects too. She is learning to read. Very visually driven otherwise. The icons, cues, flow makes basic sense to her and for the most part, she uses tech easily and fairly effectively for her age. Desktop computer, iPad, Roku, and an analog radio see regular use. Questions are about doing more, not so much how. Yeah, a ramble. Well, maybe this was more fun than current events.
- jelliclesfarm 6y ago
  Thank you! This was a delightful read.
  - ddingus 6y ago
    Cool. The little ones sure are fun. But... damn, they sap a lot of energy!
WheelsAtLarge 6y ago
Kids used to be taught how to tell time on a clock face in school. I suspect that's not the case now. It's not hard to learn for most. And, as we continue in school, eventually, most of us can figure it out but it's not automatically learned.
dezb 6y ago
if this is insanely the case, then both their parents and their teachers have failed them ( the children that is ) but also they have failed themselves, well educated enquiring minds self educate after the age of 2 or 3..
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
jelliclesfarm 6y ago
Did a Google search: https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/10-technologies-kids-dont-know.htm https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/10-techn... With that in mind, here are 10 bits of tech today's adults used as youngsters, or even just a few years ago, that now seem like barely decipherable ancient relics to today's always-wired children. The Original iPod, Computers, Flip-phone Texting, Film Cameras, Pagers, Cartridge Game Consoles, CD and DVD Software Media, PDAs, Dial-up Modems Cassette Tapes

Can HN parents test this on their children? Do kids these days find it easier telling time on a traditional old fashioned clock face with hands or a digital clock with numbers?

pmontra 6y ago

I don't have children but my friends' kids agree that digital clocks are easier. After all, where do you find a clock with hands nowadays? You must intentionally buy one. Instead clocks with digits are everywhere.

ddingus 6y ago

My kids, now out of the house, can all tell time in analog, hand form, and could as very young kids. They were '00 era kids and I had fun exposing them to older tech. Was not too notable. Their fave was a turntable and that pile of great 12" singles. They hated, and I mean viscerally hated the old dial bell telephone proper! Solid, well expressed hate, except for audio quality. They noticed, unprompted. Computers, games, etc... all were just fun, no big. For a couple years, I had an HP Palmtop in the car for road trips. They played text adventure games on it. One of the oldest would read and the group would decide what to do. Wonder if they remember now? One child is struggling with meth so I am raising another little one now. The gap is much larger now too! Can really feel it. So far, she cannot read an analog clock. We just discussed getting one too. I will look around for a cool one with a continuous second hand and great markings. (No marks can come later) She LOVES VHS! A neighbor sold an entire Disney VHS collection for 20 bucks. I have a good VCR for capturing old family movies, so I bought it just on a lark, curious. Papa, it does stuff, makes noises! What is rewind? I don't like rewind papa. Do I thank it for giving the movie back to me when it is all done? I will be frank. Some of this fun makes me feel old. But, I sometimes feel young too! Memories come back and it is real fun to explore things through her very different eyes. I will also say the UX work is paying off in some respects. I feel we are hobbling skilled users at times, but new ones have it very good in some respects too. She is learning to read. Very visually driven otherwise. The icons, cues, flow makes basic sense to her and for the most part, she uses tech easily and fairly effectively for her age. Desktop computer, iPad, Roku, and an analog radio see regular use. Questions are about doing more, not so much how. Yeah, a ramble. Well, maybe this was more fun than current events.

jelliclesfarm 6y ago
Thank you! This was a delightful read.
- ddingus 6y ago
  Cool. The little ones sure are fun. But... damn, they sap a lot of energy!

WheelsAtLarge 6y ago

Kids used to be taught how to tell time on a clock face in school. I suspect that's not the case now. It's not hard to learn for most. And, as we continue in school, eventually, most of us can figure it out but it's not automatically learned.

dezb 6y ago

if this is insanely the case, then both their parents and their teachers have failed them ( the children that is ) but also they have failed themselves, well educated enquiring minds self educate after the age of 2 or 3..

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

jelliclesfarm 6y ago

Did a Google search: https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/10-technologies-kids-dont-know.htm https://electronics.howstuffworks.com/everyday-tech/10-techn... With that in mind, here are 10 bits of tech today's adults used as youngsters, or even just a few years ago, that now seem like barely decipherable ancient relics to today's always-wired children. The Original iPod, Computers, Flip-phone Texting, Film Cameras, Pagers, Cartridge Game Consoles, CD and DVD Software Media, PDAs, Dial-up Modems Cassette Tapes