I wouldn't know, I'm not hanging out with zoomers as a xennial in his early 40s without kids, but I'm sure their knowledge about phones and stuff is a lot higher than mine. I very rarely use tablets or even my own smartphone, it's all about the computer for me.
Now, I am learning linux for second* time for the last 14 months, and it has also been humbling.
*
First time was 20 years ago, but everything felt incredibly broken at that time, not the experience I was after.
An unfortunate consequence of developers playing to the lowest common denominator of users for the last twenty years. Everything has been designed to be as easy and intuitive as possible for mobile, and troubleshooting skills have suffered as a result.
Not to mention that phones are crazy powerful and can do virtually everything these days, so fewer and fewer people are buying PCs.
If the general population is indeed "going backwards" in regards to tech literacy, it seems like demand for IT services is going to spike in the coming years. Good thing to keep in mind for young people choosing a career path!
i think its more complex than this.
people wont know what to do/wont bother if a simple google search doesnt inmediatly has what they want in the first link.
True, and Alpha are even worst, most of them never touched a real keyboard, only use 2 thumbs on a phone. Don't tell them about windows (or/mac/linux) or what is a UI or how to use a mouse and navigate in a OS, they don't get double click or right click, resize a window, minimize a window (OMG THE WINDOW IS GONE!!!!) it's impressive.
I have seen a lot of late Z/early Alpha who cannot make some special characters on a keyboard like " or $ or even worst using AltCar. Using Word to write a letter, using keyboard shortcuts, etc. they are completely clueless with computers.
Xennials are fascinating to watch navigate through tech hurdles. They have a custom built toolbox built purely through trial and error.
Training some younger people at work: "click the cog in the corner to pull up the settings". "What's a 'cog'?" Some things people miss out on life when you've never seen a Jetsons episode.
I've never seen an icon of a single cog. Multiple cogs on a hub forming a gear, sure, but never just a cog.
I work on a help desk. We hired multiple Zoomers and they literally don't understand how computers work. They don't know what the registry is. Or what POST means. Or how to properly back up a user's data without using automated software.
They're fucking dumb. Nice. But dumb.
Lot of boomer-like fist shaking in these comments.
Newer generations are going to find different things to excel at, and they'll inevitably give up on some of the old ways.
Oh god I feel seen
anyone who has never experienced the joy of destroying hardware with a misplaced address access is, at best, translucent. magic blue smoke or bust.
Did these kids grow up not using computers at school? When I was in school (1999-2013) we had both Mac and Windows desktops that we used during library visits, computer lab, and art periods. Did schools just replace that hardware with iPads? Writing/editing an essay, manipulating a photo, drafting shop drawings, or learning to code on a tablet sounds like a fucking nightmare.
The difference is that aged people tend to forget their training more. I’m not worried about the youngins.