- ‘So what do you teach?’ she asked as I worked on her presentation.
‘Computing’ I replied.
‘Oh… I guess these days you must find that the kids know more about computers than the teachers…’
If you teach IT or Computing, this is a phrase that you’ll have heard a million times, a billion times, epsilon zero times, aleph times. Okay I exaggerate, but you’ll have heard it a lot. There are variants of the phrase, all espousing today’s children’s technical ability. My favourite is from parents. ‘Oh Johnny will be a natural for A-Level Computing, he’s always on his computer at home.’ The parents seem to have some vague concept that spending hours each evening on Facebook and YouTube will impart, by some sort of cybernetic osmosis, a knowledge of PHP, HTML, JavaScript and Haskell.
Normally when someone spouts this rubbish I just nod and smile. This time I simply couldn’t let it pass. ‘Not really, most kids can’t use computers.’ (and neither can you – I didn’t add.)
My little cousin falls EXACTLY into the category of witless computer-using but computer-illiterate teenagers. I remember one incident about a year ago. I got back from Australia and my mom asked if I could pick up his computer from the local tech repair shop that we use for the computers at my dad's company. They're great guys, they have a small business that survived the recession, and we give them boatloads of money and I'm okay with it because I don't have to deal with it. So I asked what happened. She explains that they've taken it to the shop at least 8 times in the last year when it breaks or whatever and he's a 14 year old boy and therefore an idiot. I asked what they had done to attempt to solve the problem. Her answer was: take it to the repair shop. That is not a solution to the problem. That is the solution to the problem that was created by the problem. The problem is the irresponsible actions of my cousin. Manga boards, downloading and unzipping and installing programs he doesn't anything about, and downloading porn. Yes. A 14 year old in 2012 downloaded porn. I was angry. They were enabling him. They were spending money (not really an issue but still) to let him keep repeating the same thing. I wasn't raised like that. When I virus'd my computer (my dad's old windows 95 machine) I didn't get to use it until I fixed it. I had to sneak on my dad's computer when he wasn't using it to alta vista how to fix it. So I was bitter...and jealous..and angry. Fast forward 4 whole weeks. The computer is broken again. This time I get it. I look through the entire thing, forcing to reboot every 3 minutes because of how loaded up with shit it is. That's how I found out about the manga boards, the IE8 he was using (granted he was running xp but still), the desktop full of .zips and .exes named things like "adsdsdf.zip" and "hotyoung.exe." So I grabbed a windows disc, reinstalled, opened the actual computer up, blew out the 3 inches of dust and grime, reseated everything, good as new. Installed Google Chrome with some extensions (namely WOT with a popup every time you try to go to a "red" site). Then I bookmarked pornhub.com for him. Because fucking hell, don't fucking download porn you goof. What are you going to do? Watch it again? Seriously? You aren't. You're going to download new porn the next time. Then googled and printed out some easy to understand, step by step instructions on how to reinstall. And when I gave it back to him I told him exactly what the issues were. Exactly what sites were causing what. Exactly how harmful installing shit could be. Gave him a nice lecture on privacy that reminded me way too much of the one my dad gave me when I was 14. I got him on codeacademy ( if he's going to spend 8 hours after school on the computer, make it worthwhile). Then I told him that the next time the computer broke, he would have to fix it. I pointed out the printout and disc, which I had thoroughly duct taped to the side of the computer for safe keeping, and left. Fast forward two whole months. I felt like I might have actually made a difference. I was on top of the world (not really...I didn't think about it much) but I felt like I had influenced someone for the better. Maybe he would get interested in programming. Maybe he would build something awesome. Maybe he would actually have a passion for something besides fapping. MAYBE HE WOULD BE THE NEXT STEVE JOBS!!! Nope. Apparently the computer "broke", he decided not to tell us or reinstall, somehow decided it was a problem with his video card, removed the video card, forgot about said video card under a pile of clothes, and destroyed said video card. We haven't fixed it.All through their lives, I’ve done it for them. Set-up new hardware, installed new software and acted as in-house technician whenever things went wrong. As a result, I have a family of digital illiterates.
OR NOT I'm a rarity. I've forgotten more about cars than most people will ever know. I've done SMT rework on circuit boards. I've programmed in three languages, written a webpage or two, installed a garbage disposal and built shelves from lumber. I'm a long goddamn way from a "Renaissance man" or "polymath" but I have a basic, passable understanding of the world around me. I am not an expert in all things. I have a workable expertise in all things that impact my life such that I feel confident enough to know what I can take on and what I can't, to know who can help me with my problems and who can't. That, to me, seems like the essence of pragmatism. I learned it from my father, my wife learned it from her father, and we will no doubt instill it in our daughter. It doesn't mean I can code apps, it doesn't mean I can reprogram the ECM on my car (the bike is another matter), and it doesn't mean I represent myself in courts of law but it means those that can do those things neither laugh at me nor take advantage of me. I am not the people listed in this article. Most people aren't. There are those who are taken advantage of for their ignorance. There always have been. There always will be. Those with a narrow expertise tend to apply it to their band of expertise. Here we have an IT person lamenting the fact that people no longer know how to set IRQs and DMAs that happens to be perfectly cool with the idea that his son will never need to learn to drive because Google will do it for him. No surprise, his attitude towards cars is: (despite quoting Cory Doctorow: "There are no cars, only computers we sit in.") Unfortunately for the dyed-in-the-wool nerds, there is less configuration necessary on computers than there used to be, and in those rare instances where you need to step outside the box, the expertise necessary is far, far greater. What this means is that for most people, the operating systems he celebrates (W7 and OSX) "just work" and for those that it doesn't, their illiteracy is that much more evident. Idiots will be idiots. Sunrise, sunset. "Don't be one" is always the truth. Does it require a massive call to action? No. By the author's own admission, the issues discussed would probably fill a 3-hour seminar (good friend of mine has a nice side business doing exactly this at senior centers). For those who haven't picked up the basics, but want to, the basics are picked up with predictable ease. For those who haven't picked up the basics but can't be bothered, you'll get what you deserve. My mother in law still calls her browser "the Mozilla" and in order to prevent her from connecting via Compuserve dialup I had to put in a wireless router. But I taught that woman to use Pro Tools because it was the best solution to a problem she had. She learns what she needs to learn. I ain't worried in the slightest, and neither should you be.I’ve owned a car for most of my adult life and they’re a mystery to me.
I wholeheartedly agree with the authors premise that many young people don't know much about computers beyond how to use day to day applications but I think there is a disturbing element that he didn't cover. Ninety Five percent of the problems any computer user faces is about five google searches and twenty or so webpages worth of skimming away from being solved. The solution is probably presented with screenshots and a step by step breakdown. Almost everyone has an extra screen in their pocket with which to find this information if the problem is "can't connect to the internet." As long as the user can follow directions they don't need understand the finer details of what they are doing or why they are doing it, they just need to do it. The more you just do it the more you end up knowing about computers. My mom couldn't upgrade her RAM about five years ago. After visiting her and seeing how slow her computer was I wrote down her model number and had a RAM upgrade shipped to her house. She refused to put it in, waiting a year until I came back for a visit to have me install it. About two years ago she bought a decent laptop and took a laptop repair and maintenance class. The class sounded pretty amazing; they taught a woman who couldn't replace her desktop ram how to replace screens, keyboard, RAM and every other part that wasn't soldered in. She thinks that she could probably diagnose, find the parts for and replace any part on her laptop that isn't soldered in now. Doesn't really relate to the kids part of the story but it shows how a low functioning user can change if they put a bit of effort into it.
Yeah, I think it comes down to not being afraid (more than is healthy) of technology and having basic problem solving skills. A lot of this is frustrating because we look at these people's inability to troubleshoot even the most basic things and extrapolate that out and come to the conclusion that these people must suck at everything. But I'm not convinced that they really do suck at everything. I think there's something about technology that is just too mystical for so many (most?) people. But for those of us who have been behind the veil, it just seems silly.
If the user is aware of their actions, then they'd be able to understand the final details, don't you think?As long as the user can follow directions they don't need understand the finer details of what they are doing or why they are doing it, they just need to do it.
I could lecture you on the adiabatic contours of the Otto cycle engine. I have a degree in this shit. That does not mean you need to know what I know in order to check the timing on your car's motor. There's an admirable pragmatism to knowing enough to solve your problems, knowing enough to tell when your out of your depth, and knowing that knowledge beyond these two milestones is only worthwhile if it interests you. I agree with cgod on registry hax. There is no part of my brain that is rewarded with knowing the structure of Windows metadata. I'd rather use the computer for what I bought it for, thanks. I once had to install Knoppix and a brand new motherboard in order to reassemble a 4-disk ZFS RAID5 cluster in man-down formation in order to resurrect my photos. I pulled it off. I got my photos. And fuck Knoppix, fuck ZFS, fuck RAID5 and fuck "finding that out" when I got my damn photos. That shit is tedious, yo, and my life is not enriched one iota by delving into the intricacies of sudo calls.
I mean, why not get a masters in computer science? I just need it to work, that's enough for me. If I sometimes know what the values I'm editing in my registry are and it's helpful knowledge that's great, but I don't really feel the need to endlessly examine what's happening every time I edit my registry. What's keeping me? The knowledge is only valuable so far as I can get my shit to work, so I guess need is stopping me.
I think that's what the article is talking about. That lack of need is what's making us computer illiterate. I'm not criticizing you in any way. I'm just saying that as technologies become more and more user-friendly and do everything for us, there'll be less and less of a need for us to know what exactly we're doing. You already know to clean your registries. I would say the author thinks you can use a computer.
I'm not talking about cleaning my registries, but ah well. There will always be a level of knowledge that a normal competent user will not be very knowledgeable. Every thing this guy is complaining about is one seach away from not being a problem. Specialization is real and valuable, I don't think this guy would recommend that the average user edit their registry values but would probably give an approving nod to anyone that did.
Agreed. Isn't he saying though that it may have gotten to the point where some don't even know what to google search for?
I agree, for a potentially different reason. The author has not come up with a clear list of what a human needs to know to be computer-literate. Instead he's explaining that his generation got to grow up with the problem-solving necessary, so these kids need to get off his lawn. He has very valid points. From the opening example: his customer looked down on him, did not present her full situation, and acted like her problems are everyone else's problem. However as kleinbl00 put it above, he is expecting everyone to be a desktop administrator... and possibly psychic. Does she know the school has a web proxy? No. Does she need to know this? Yes. Would it not make his side-job easier if he wrote up a set of Mac and Windows instructions for visitors and teachers to connect, and what problems to expect? Yes. Now comes the kicker: he should know that last part already. He wrote this entire lament, when he could have used the same amount of time to write a how-to. He gets some reward from dealing with frustrating people or he would have solved the problem. Part of the computer-literate nature that he vaunts is never solving the same problem twice: solve it once, document that, refine the doc based on feedback, improve the process. He talks all this bravado about being able to cobble a computer from beach sand and meat sweats. It sounds just like an emotionally abusive parent saying that no one appreciates the work that went into making dinner. Teach the kids how to make dinner and that problem is gone. Microprocessors with impressive infrastructure are everywhere, but they aren't desktop computers. The computer interfaces vaporize because they can emulate the analog actions they replace. A car has a lots of chips, but it also has giant buttons on the floor that you control with your feet. We teach driving to youngsters. They can't wait to drive: I remember counting the months until I could take my written test at 16, starting with my 13th birthday. Even when acknowledges the above, and even with the hint of proposing an ontogenic network for students (Linux boxes, routers they can poke, etc), he needs to stop being a whinger. This article should have been "Why I wrote a proxy config doc with cartoon characters".
Ideally, yes, he should just write a how-to instead of this meta complaining. But I have a feeling that the people he refers to wouldn't have any interest in learning for themselves while they have a tech guy who can just do it for them. I think what he is really getting at is not so much blaming them for not knowing things as it is blaming them for not even wanting or caring to.
The majority of the examples provided by the author just seemed to show a general lack of critical thinking from the user. I definitely have a biased view on the matter, though. I wonder if auto-maintenance workers often feel the same way about their customers.
That website is great. I especially like the seasonal tire air.
I agree with you on that, i just wasn't sure if you were criticizing the people in the examples as you are, or if the writing style of the post itself was rubbing you the wrong way.
I believe computers should be taught in school. Like, what a better way to get rid of the old hardware than to pass it on to students to learn off of! I used to go to this middle school, where you could chose an elective or something similar, and one of the classes was very interesting. I can't really remember what the class was, but it was taught by a man who had stations set up all over this giant classroom. There was a robotics module, which you could do for half of the semester, a rocketry module, botany. All very interesting little modules that could do and get a grade for, while learning about the world, and how different technologies tie together. There were a lot of module, and I only did a few. I don't recall a computer systems module, though. Would have been a nice addition to my hobby and love for computers. Now, here I am encouraging people to learn more about computers! I have a friend who just graduated with her bachelors degree, and she's thinking about going back to school. I told her she should (we need women in I.T.); she could make more money than being a social worker, her specialty. I find her pretty cool because she's willing to accept new concepts and learn more about computers, which I'm more than happy to share. Hindsight is 20/20, though... So I guess can't complain: I make my money off of people who don't know how to use computers. It's my profession, and hobby.
I saw this on the front page too and thanks to Hubski Discover, saw that it had already been posted! I am a little pessimistic about the solution. The only way people will change is if they understand the necessary evil of having to spend quality time learning something. A lot of people don't enjoy that because frankly, the general public is lazy. Is this a broad generalization? Possibly. But from what I've seen through the lens of a college student is that too many people want to be fed baby food so that they can continue being distracted through Facebook, the Chive, and other "social" avenues.