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Anecdotally, most kids I know only interact with devices that feature strong guard rails like phones and tablets. Those kids are generally more ignorant of how

• toss1 4y ago
  Exactly! I was going to comment on the same phenomena. We now have a "digital native" generation coming of age for whom the only thing they have known is a ubiquitous internet. We might expect that they would be more intimately familiar with the workings of the technology that has surrounded them than we could ever be. Yet the opposite seems true, and I think you've put your finger on a primary reason — they've only interacted with devices that are basically appliances — you turn it on and use the app, but it is very difficult to get inside either the hardware or software. So, it just becomes another box that either works or doesn't. It is not dissimilar to the generations of people who grew up with automobiles. the more "user friendly" they technology gets, the fewer people even understand what goes on 'under the hood'. If you don't need to understand how to change a tire or change the oil, or check the valve backlash, because these are rare events, few people even have a clue how to do it, unless someone took a special effort to teach them and they took a special effort to learn. Kind of a sad paradox.
  • alephnil 4y ago
    You saw the same with cars. Back in say 1950, most car owners would know how to do basic maintenance and repairs, both because the cars was mechanically simpler, but also less reliable. With higher reliability and more complex cars, that is no longer the case. Now the same thing is happening with computers.