I guess it comes from growing up in the 90s but I have always seen and heard computer literacy being linked with youth. All the time growing up I’d hear about how us kids just naturally took to computers and they were right. I remember teaching my mom how to set up her first email account when I was like 9 years old. Then years later showing her how to out music on her ipod etc. Everyone my age was proficient with computers right away and being bad at technology was seen as an old people thing.
Well now I’m in my 30s and it’s like it’s reversed. The younger employees where I work all have to be taught how to do very very basic computer tasks like logging in to windows, using Microsoft Word, using a browser to go to websites etc. And don’t get me started on the chicken pecking typing, or using caps lock instead of shift.
They only know how to use phones and the app store. If there isn’t an app for some web service they just straight up don’t know how to get there.
Teaching them to use the computer at work feels exactly like teaching the boomers how to use the computer. What is going on??
And don’t tell me they just know how to use different technology that I don’t know how to use. Yes I do. I know how phones work and don’t need any help doing anything on them.
I see on reddit all the time people not knowing they can go to reddit on their browser instead of the app.
I listen to 4chan greentext stories on YouTube while I do my paperwork and I’ve seen comments from people asking how to get the “4chan app”
Does nobody have a laptop or whatever any more? I know that PC gaming is more popular now than ever so young people are definitely getting computers. High end computers at that. Is their whole computer experience strictly limited to Steam and the games they buy there? Do they know about the browser? If they had to, say, download and then open a PDF would they be able to do it?
Are zoomers the new boomers? Don’t they teach computer basics in school anymore?
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It sounds like console and handheld games are way more predominant over PC titles than they were among kids decades ago.
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Most schools don’t have computer class or even computer labs now. Most have chrome books (app based) or tablets (app based) that they give kids. So there is no instruction or chance to poke around on an actual computer and all of their actual instruction is to go to apps while in school which mirrors what they do on their phones. It’s extremely frustrating to deal with the results of all of this but it’s generally not their fault they’re computer illiterate, they’ve never been taught before and now are pretty firmly set in their app based ways.
Yup, when i started work, had a bunch of old timers, they struggled a lot on computers, i didn’t mind helping as they didn’t grow up with this kind of stuff..
Now i’m in the more senior positions, i have assistants and graduates come through, they are useless on computers… i call them the ‘Ipad Generation’… they can film and do video editing if its on their apple device, but barely have a clue of how a PC works, can’t connect to printers, install a driver… never mind use word and excel properly.
I think they just expect everything to be simple because apple devices are so dumbed down for ease of use and the old “they just work” meaning they don’t have to learn how things work
Yeah, kids those age grew up with it so they learned what they needed, but were never taught fundamentals because, well they grew up with it.
I grew up right before the kids that had iPhones all their lives and I watched how they were getting iPads and iPhones as toddlers when I got my first phone in middle school and it was a slide.
It’s kind of amazing because even a good portion of people my age never bothered to really learn more than the basics of word and it shows because they were the ones that floundered in college because they weren’t really self sufficient in a lot of areas I noticed.
They took away computer classes and a lot of companies are trying to transition to apps.
These kids don’t know what they haven’t been taught.
I was born in 1996 whereas my younger sister was born in 2003. The gap isn’t that big but her education was way different than mine. She went through school after Bush’s stuff had been enacted. I was just in front of the policies that have this affect.
When I was a kid 10 years old and you wanted to play StarCraft with your friends you had to know how to find IP address and setup port forwarding for internet play. Or if you friends brought their pcs over you would have to understand basic networking. That information was not easily accessible. I went to the library and got a book networking for dummies. Read the book and spent a few hours figuring it out scouring forums.
Now a days I play street fighter 6. I turn on the program. I click online play. In 20 seconds I play somebody in Japan from America.
No it was not better back in my day. That shit was ass. This is infinitely better. Tech is so good now compared to early 2000s. But it’s also not teaching kids critical thinking skills. Neither is our fucking schools.
Inwas asking the students at my work that we get into he summers if they have typing class and they all said “no” so they do the 2 finger typing. Lol
In their defense, I recall Gen X looking down on millennials because they couldn’t navigate DOS
This weekend I had breakfast with the whole family. Afterwards I was remarking to my wife that I had to help Google things for my geriatric mother and zoomer niece…
It’s a machine. If they can drive a car they can log themselves through using a computer. The bigger issue is they don’t want to. Their perception of themselves and the world gets in the way of practical productivity.
Ugghhhhhh. I spent 6 hours in back and forth emails with a student trying to get them to “download the document as a pdf and send it to me as an email attachment”. First, they kept trying to just send me the link to the Google drive that I don’t have access to. Then they converted it to a Google doc from the original word doc, messing up the formatting, and sharing that link with me. Finally, they followed my instructions to download it as a pdf and send it via email.
I know I’m old (I’m 30, my back hurts), but I know what I’m talking about, bruh.
I did a report on this issue. Sadly it’s because schools don’t offer computer literacy classes anymore. I’m also a millennial and started computer class in 3rd grade and was in some form of a computer class all the way through high school. The education system figured these kids were born with tablets and phones in their hand so they didn’t need any help with computers and thus, the classes stopped. I have a high schooler who barely knows any Microsoft programs because she only uses a chrome book for school. I’ve taught her some basics with excel at least but she also doesn’t know how to type. Has no idea what home row keys are. Our schools did these kids a disservice. I get the thought process behind what they did but technology was advancing way too fast for these kids to care about computers or laptops. We grew up with the new tech being the computer so we snuck to the computer room late at night logged into AIM and decorated our MySpace profiles. They don’t have that incentive cuz they can do it on their phones. However, in the working world computer based applications are still king and these kids are left unprepared. I’m a returning college student and had to take a CIT class for my degree and omg that shit was so easy. Making basic tables and charts and figuring out an answer to a question that has a large data set. I got so many questions from the younger students because they didn’t even know how to use the sort function.
I’m 40 and the thought of a four chan app actually made me laugh out loud.
Our gen built the Internet, we are the OG programmer gen. For us computers were our medium to create and we created apps I guess… and younger gen don’t know how the koolaid is made.
Where do you live? Because, that hasn’t been what I’ve been seeing at all, and I feel it may be a very regional thing
I’m 24, so, from the earlier Zoomer models, albeit, an early SLAVIC model, so, a tad out of date all things considered. Now, many kids weren’t interested in the mandatory IT class when I was in middle and high school, but, they were “forced” to eventually pass it.
They needed a cheat sheet to pass the HTML part, and they weren’t super quick with excel, but they could navigate a browser and do research online, format word documents, powerpoint presentations, and basic cloud stuff and networking. Again, not computer savvy, but, they knew the basics of how to navigate a computer and adapt to new stuff. We also did our last semester of HS online thanks to covid, which sucked for me because I was finally socializing and excited for prom (here, we only get one such event for graduation, and underclassmen don’t ever participate, so, you get one chance)
Basic computer competence is a prerequisite for getting into all universities, which, is realistically what most do where I live, since it’s not a huge financial hurdle as it seems to be in the west.
I’m wrapping up an animation bachelors, a year behind actually, and all of my juniors are at least okay with computers, even the first years. Most of my friends are in language studies or programing, I don’t see much of a gap in terms of the “base line” newly enrolled students have in those majors, even if the latter should have more enthusiasts.
Game consoles were always secondary to PCs here, so, I tend to see a lot of young people decently acquainted with computers. Those born my year or earlier, tend to have that be a trait more common in men, but it has flipped from what I’m seeing in my younger cousin and her friends/ stories about them.
If anything, the only thing I’ve noticed they lack, is the ability to speak in front of people, and explain their work process when showcasing projects. That’s something that really affected this generation, and I feel like I was on the last train before that became the default. I only got some attention span issues.
I consider myself relatively introverted, really grumpy, and a tad shy, without any real experience talking in front of others, but, listening to certain 19~22y/o people, I feel like the messiah of being on stage…
The few who CAN speak in front of a small public, look so unenthusiastic, that I genuinely want to leave. In a seminar after a two week animation marathon (doing ten shorts in ten days), our uni had 30 ~40 participants, and only ~8 felt like they could handle themselves.
Which baffled me. We all spent around 7~14 hours per day on this stuff, you’d they would have SOMETHING to say about the experience and the process.
The “digital native” narrative bullshit drove out all the technical classes assuming kids using it learn it…
Yeah, we should take that approach with driving, right? Just hand them the keys when they’re 4 and let them learn! They’ll be master mechanics by 18!!! No need to teach.
I’ve had 2 gen z interns and I was genuinely surprised that they weren’t particularly computer literate
I had to explain to my than 18 year old nephew what a coax cable was. Hes 20 now. He also uses the term “hack” for damn near everything
Unfortunately, knowing how to use a PC for games apps does not translate to knowing how to use a PC for other things. File management, basic tasks within browsers, etc. Part of it has to do with UIs getting much easier to navigate that some people just never learn the other fundamentals :/
We are in the middle of trying to upgrade our technology. Some of it is to keep as many “doors” closed as possible to hackers and the whatnot.
EVERYONE is throwing a fit because they might have to do something a different way. it is fucking madness. one of the new ways exports to excel. BUT no one in that department seems to understand excel.
like simple sorting and formulas blow their mind.
there was something with pricing that was changed. I asked if they had a few formulas in Excel that could help them calculate discounts and various up charges.
I wrote a formal on a whiteboard, and you would have thought it was hieroglyphics. let alone they could not just do fucking math.
nah you’re not crazy—this is real
phones made tech easier, not users smarter
they’re fluent in platforms, not systems
scrolling isn’t the same as navigating, and tapping icons doesn’t teach file structure, troubleshooting, or logic
zoomers grew up tech-surrounded, not tech-trained
so yeah, they can edit a TikTok but freeze when Outlook asks for a calendar sync
they didn’t skip the learning curve—they just never saw one
it’s not about age—it’s about depth of exposure
you grew up hacking around janky systems
they grew up inside curated apps with no friction
different reps, different skills
My Gen-Z uni students can’t even open their PPT files when giving presentations.
Can barely use Google Docs
Can’t follow basic verbal instructions
Completely ignore (or cannot comprehend) written instructions
I’m in my 30s and I feel like I forgot also lol. I just use my phone these days. Like uhhh file…. What!
It’s those damn Chromebook’s they give them at school. They are good for web browsing and Google dox only. I’ve had to teach my kids how to use several non-Google programs. But I also consider that part of parenting by, just like teaching them money math, clock reading, shoelaces, cooking etc.
I teach middle school. A few years ago I realized we think kids are tech savvy because they’re always on a phone. But they have no word processing skills. However, teachers are all older and think that kids know what they’re doing. They are phone, app, and gaming savvy. But that’s about it. Generally speaking.
As a zoomer, most people in my family never owned a computer , i spent very little time even using one growing up, so it makes sense
There’s a lot of things that factor in but mostly its bc as tech advanced it also got simpler and since it was assumed gen z was going to learn about tech by being around it there’s fewer and fewer computer classes in k-12 now. As such most young people only used phones and tablets and as for computers they likely used chromebooks as those are much cheaper so its what many kids got through their parents or their schools.
As for your point with pc gaming that’s a mix between yes many gen z but also milenials gaming on computers too. So generally, the people that know how to use computers can use them pretty well but those that didn’t learn don’t have a clue. Legit they should bring back computer classes in schools since many don’t have them, one of mine did so I’m thankful but ik many others don’t or if they do it’s the most lackluster shit ever.
I’m 31 and was never taught how to type on a keyboard. I use both index fingers, but it’s not hunt and peck – I don’t look at the keyboard and I’m quick at it. I also don’t know how to text because I never had anyone to text…
I was transferring pictures from my mom’s camera using my daughter’s computer and holy crap, all the garbage she had on there. I had to close out like 30 tabs and windows before I could even get to the home screen.
They have had their path made easier; it’s not a good thing.
When I grew up I had to order and files and folders and a DOS prompt. I had to fiddle with settings and cables to get on the internet. The computer was a glowing box in the corner of the living room.
It’s different now, you don’t have to learn the same things.
i’m very pro “raise your kids like 90’s kids” in the aspect of them knowing how to do shit!! not the unsupervised aspect 😅
I think, for my school, my grade was one of the last classes to get any kind of computer/typing class, and even that wasn’t much more than learning the basics, which most everyone already knew. For reference, I was born in 2002 and my first computer class was in 3rd grade, my last was probably in 7th grade but we also got chromebooks that year and everything became app based
I’m a millennial who hasn’t owned a computer or laptop in a decade at least. I use one at work but for personal stuff I’ve never needed anything other than my phone and a tablet to make reading easier on my old eyes. So I don’t find it shocking that young people don’t know if they don’t use them in school anymore.
This might not be a generational thing, but for me the biggest issue is people being unwilling/unable to figure anything out for themselves. A bit of trial and error, or a google search would solve 99% of basic issues in life, yet it’s really common to see questions on reddit/forums along the lines of “how do I insert a picture into this document”, “how do I change a tyre”, etc.
All reasonable questions, but not ones that require another human on the internet to tell you what to do.
Weird. I’m 65 and keep my IT certs up, and have worked with lots of network and SATCOM equipment. I can’t imagine not being tech savvy. I understand the youngest generation can’t write or research either, so… it’s worrisome.
I actually feel this way about older adults who were teens/young adults when computers became a huge thing. My argument to my parents whenever they would say “you should know this, kids know electronics” and I always said “well you were there when they released how are you not proficient, YOU BOUGHT ME THE DAMN THING”
I work in a university library and I have to constantly teach students how to attach files in emails. Most don’t even know how to work with basic MS programs; word, PowerPoint, and don’t even try with Excel. Some don’t even know how to unlock computers with ctrl + alt + del; they’ll use backspace instead of delete or they don’t know they’re supposed to be pressing on all 3 together. Or sometimes, they don’t even know how to turn on the computer.
I also get a lot of students who says they hate computers and technology and refuses to learn it while also saying “I’m graduating soon and I don’t need to know how to use computers” 💀 and yes they all peck at the keyboard.
The common problematic behavior/mindset I’ve observed: the lack of curiosity to learn, no problem solving skills (as in googling anything), and most are unwilling to learn something new. Also a dash of entitlement. They expect you to solve their problems right off the bat.
I get so irritated when a student comes up to me and DEMAND me to fix their problems. I put my foot down and have them do what I say as I explain things. I don’t ever just do anything for them. It takes a lot of time and patience but, if I can get them to learn/understand something that would be less work for me in the future. Some are receptive and others not really but, I usually lowkey shame the latter ones to get them to learn 💀 which honestly works just because they’re stubborn that I can only get through to them if I hurt the ego a little bit. Then I make up for it by praising them once they successfully finish a task even when I guide them and try to encourage them to learn other stuff.
Most only want to do things on their phone and they’ll try to print, write papers, send emails, etc from phones. Even if they have their own laptops, they don’t know anything about it. They don’t know their own computer settings or try to modify anything or know where things get downloaded in their computers and there’s no file management skills.
Some don’t even know how to work a computer at all. I tell them to open up a browser to get to their school emails and it’s like watching a deer in headlights until they click on Microsoft edge. They don’t know how to convert stuff to pdf either lol it’s like a Venn diagram overlaps between the 2 generations honestly.
I’ve had different students trying to print in color but comes out black and white then they tell me the printer is broken. but, when I go to check their original file, I see it’s black and white so they really thought that the printer would somehow add colors by itself.
They lack the general understanding of technology. I’ve always wondered how they manage after graduation so I guess you’ve answered it haha.
Believe me, my colleagues and I try our best in educating them. But most don’t seem to care or want to.
now i’m an 04 kid but im also surprised by my own peers who don’t know how to screen capture, cite, download files for anything, or microsoft office. i think im just special because my dad was and still is a programmer, had microsoft office installed and would teach me how to use the programs + let
me have access unfortunately unlimited so i would teach myself a lot of things about computers. i would spend hours a day on MS paint and would make fun skits on power point
I’m in my 50’s, we had our first computer class in high school in the late 80’s and we had to learn to program that sh*t. I spent a few years in college in the computer science program before changing, then got our first home pc in the early/mid 90’s. They’ve been in my life for most of my life and yeah, my granddaughter doesn’t know how to use a computer and she’s in high school. They just aren’t taught, she has no interest in her mom or dad’s laptops, because she can run her life from her phone or her tablet.
I WFH as a recruiter and have been on computers all day for work, for years. Hell I have two laptops going at all times, because work can’t remote into my personal laptop. The amount of young people we hire that can’t even figure out how to log in to the computers to clock in or send an email is astounding. My husband works for the company I recruit for, on site, and he has to teach all the young people (tire/service shop) the basics to use a computer to build a ticket, they have no idea.
On the flip side, years ago when I got my first iPhone, my teenager had to show me how to use the damn thing LOL He’s a millennial though and I am GenX.
I notice that at my job. The younger people, they have zero clue and almost need to be taught how to use Windows. But they know a phone, unfortunately that’s what they know. If they could do all the work on their iPhone, they’d be fine.
Our latest hire, he goes through orientation. I get to set him up, just go through some of the things. I tell him he’s got to set a password, and like most of us he has a standard one he uses. So he says that. We actually have to set two. I tell him that, and he’s surprised. But fine “I have two that I tend to use.”
Me: “oh you get to change them every 30 days, so I’d use the tips they told you in orientation if I were you.” He does the shocked pikachu face.
Idk it could also be confirmation bias tbh, i work around a lot of older folks who dont know how to use a computer and the handful of us in our mid to late 20s are perfect fine with them. However I am in an industry that works with computers a LOT now and previously didnt, so younger people learned alongside changes to computer while older folks had to change their entire workflow to be online.
I’ve seen the whole gamut. Kids who were exposed to computers young are mad geniuses when it comes to programming and being scrappy while building incredible stuff. Kids who were exposed to walled gardens like iOS just stumble through life only knowing what’s taught to them rather than through exploration
I grew up with computers being big box machines and pages loading slowly down the screen. I taught myself everything slowly day by day because there was no other way to learn.
Now kids can just fuckin use AI and ask a question and not even comprehend the answer. I feel OLD saying all this but I mean is it really so hard to just pick up a book??