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Enjoyable article, I would suggest a different interpretation of the Google interview results. The Google video data suggests to me that we are in a "pre-lite

Enjoyable article, I would suggest a different interpretation of the Google interview results. The Google video data suggests to me that we are in a "pre-literate" technological age (assuming that we judge literacy by a person's knowledge of standard web technology). I'm not clear that there was ever a time when people in general knew this stuff. (I still get a kick when I hear nontechincal people describing a web address: "H-T-T-P-colon-...") Nontechnical people often don't know terms like 'browser' because they don't have to. The reason why IE has such strong market share is because most people use Windows and they just use the browser that comes with their computer. I say "pre-literate" because as technology gets easier to use and applications become more relevant to people's lives, then people will know much more than they do today (simply compare the twenty-and-under crowd to the fifty-and-over crowd as an example of what's coming). If current trends continue, then the next generation will continue to be more technically savvy than their parents.

deleted 17y ago
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rationalbeaver 17y ago
My anecdotal experience leads me to argue to opposite case. As the article notes, "the better technology works, the less we'll learn about how it works." My grandfather (almost 90) knows what operating system and browser he's using because he bought his first PC in the early 80s when you had to mess around with DOS. My dad is the same way, as am I. My sister, who is 6 years younger, has no clue. By the time she started learning to use a computer, most of the technology had already become invisible (for example, she never learned how to use a modem because by then we had DSL - always on). Now, my sister is certainly web savvy, very comfortable with cell phones, texting, social networking, etc. But she's got no clue about any of the underlying technology. She doesn't need to know, because it just works. So I agree with you that upcoming generations will be more comfortable with the uses of technology, but I think that most of them will be clueless about how it works.
- larryfreeman 17y ago
  It sounds like your grandfather was and is technical. I'm talking about trends about nontechnical people. The question for me is whether nontechnical people are getting more technically literate. Literacy to me is about the deeper patterns. For radio, think AM/FM/Satellite and radio waves. For the telephone, think electricity and sound waves. For television, think about the broadcast spectrum and channels. These concepts become part of the literate vocabulary only afer the technology gets better established and people get better informed.

deleted 17y ago

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rationalbeaver 17y ago

My anecdotal experience leads me to argue to opposite case. As the article notes, "the better technology works, the less we'll learn about how it works." My grandfather (almost 90) knows what operating system and browser he's using because he bought his first PC in the early 80s when you had to mess around with DOS. My dad is the same way, as am I. My sister, who is 6 years younger, has no clue. By the time she started learning to use a computer, most of the technology had already become invisible (for example, she never learned how to use a modem because by then we had DSL - always on). Now, my sister is certainly web savvy, very comfortable with cell phones, texting, social networking, etc. But she's got no clue about any of the underlying technology. She doesn't need to know, because it just works. So I agree with you that upcoming generations will be more comfortable with the uses of technology, but I think that most of them will be clueless about how it works.

larryfreeman 17y ago
It sounds like your grandfather was and is technical. I'm talking about trends about nontechnical people. The question for me is whether nontechnical people are getting more technically literate. Literacy to me is about the deeper patterns. For radio, think AM/FM/Satellite and radio waves. For the telephone, think electricity and sound waves. For television, think about the broadcast spectrum and channels. These concepts become part of the literate vocabulary only afer the technology gets better established and people get better informed.