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‘Scanners are complicated’: why Gen Z faces workplace ‘tech shame’ (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/technology@beehaw.org
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[–] 36 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (10 children)

Something I’ve noticed as an elder millennial working in IT is that there’s an assumption by older generations that because zoomers have grown up with smartphones that they’ll be automatically be proficient with tech as a whole, but it’s not correct in my experience and I really think it’s doing them a disservice. They’re better than anyone else I’ve met at navigating apps/mobile UI but tend to struggle as much as boomers with more traditional computers, because it’s simply not what they grew up with and no one thought to teach them.

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  • [–] 26 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    There is another article I read where colleges had to teach Computer Science majors basic computer concepts like folders because the students relied on search for everything.

    It would be like how almost everyone knew how to work on their own car in the 40's and 50's because you needed to in order to get the car to run. Nowadays, you don't need that information to drive a car.

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  • [–] 23 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    I think your car metaphor is even more apt than you meant it, as over time both car manufacturers and mobile platforms have gotten more and more hostile to users actually being able to do maintenance or self service.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    That's true, but there's always a way. For instance clones of the John Deere factory service tool and pirated software is available on AliExpress for less than a thousand dollars. For more common manufacturers there's tools for doing all kinds of stuff.

    The more popular the platform, the more prevalent the problem, and the more expensive the OEM makes it are all determining factors as to the availability of aftermarket tools and repairs.

    If something costs a million people one thousand dollars to fix then a third party can afford a couple of full time engineers to come up with a fix that costs five hundred.

    I've personally made my own physical tools for working on cars when a factory special tool is called for.

    Never underestimate a determined person with a welder and a grinder.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago

    For sure, but it does make the barrier to entry significantly higher. A kid now is much less likely to stumble into how something works if they have to effectively break several locks when before the door was wide open.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    there’s an assumption by older generations that because zoomers have grown up with smartphones that they’ll automatically be proficient with tech as a whole

    That's like thinking someone knows how to cook because they can order at McDonalds.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    It’s an absurd premise, but it’s true! I teach HS computer science and always take time to teach them basic skills about Excel — like what it’s even capable of.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    That's great. Teaching them what it is capable of opens new vistas (not that Vista) and that there are lots of possibilities with other software as well. Not a MS fan at all but Excel is powerful and the point comes through regardless of the platform.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago

    My big point is always, "I don't expect you to memorize all of these things, but rather to understand what sort of thing is possible in Excel/Google Sheets. Hopefully it'll stick in the back of their head, and 10 years later they'll look like a wizard in their office job, if nothing else.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago

    I doubt that they are actually that skilled with mobile apps, since most things on a phone are "use them as they are or just don't". You can't really customize things, or do things in your own ways. E.g. ask someone to send you an original, uncompressed photo on Whatsapp.

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