It’s not exactly rare for one generation to make fun of or harshly criticise the previous generation. Old good, new bad. More or less. And so it comes as no surprise that both Gen Z and recently Gen Alpha, i.e. people born around 2000 and later, get the exact same treatment for a number of reasons. Generations in general have become more of a meme and so anything that is old is just considered “boomer”, regardless of whether it actually fits in the rough time frame of when baby boomers were born. For a while it was a trend to make Millennials responsible for everything that’s going wrong, which in turn also became a meme. Headlines like “Millennials ruined XYZ” or “Why aren’t Millennials buying Diamonds” and so on and so forth. So now that that has become old it seems to be time for the next generation(s) to be chewed out. There are a bunch of things that the usual rags could use for stupid headlines like Zoomers being lazy, incompetent or “snowflakes” but there’s one in particular that is more interesting which is tech-literacy.
It appeared to me that for quite a while that was one of the things the younger generation was not criticised for but more recently it seems that it’s getting more attention. The general thought initially was probably along the lines of “they’re growing up with this stuff so they surely must know their way around it”. At this point however I’ve heard of the opposite more often than not and to be honest it doesn’t seem that surprising to me. First of it probably makes sense to look at the previous generations and their relation to things like computers, smartphones and the Internet. The former being the oldest thing and therefore the one they were introduced to first.
When computers became more ubiquitous they were essentially just calculators or typewriters with certain advantages. That made them one thing: A tool made for a specific set of jobs. With the falling price and increasing processing power they entered most offices and so people had to learn to use them. In terms of usability they probably weren’t exactly user-friendly but because of the limited tasks that they were made to do most people were able to get accustomed to them. And that’s about it. Most normal office workers at that point most likely had absolutely no intention of buying a computer for their home. Can’t really blame them as having an expensive dedicated calculator at home doesn’t sound all that enticing. At the same time most people that used computers at work back then didn’t become programmers. They learned to use the computer as a tool for their job. Eventually computers became more powerful which allowed them to be used for more tasks like drawing, typesetting, video editing, music production and so on. So the increased processing power made the computer a more versatile tool. At the same time that also allowed them to be used for less productive tasks like playing games, listening to music or watching videos. The advent of the Internet only increased the ability to consume rather than to produce when using a computer. Even so I’d say that in general the split is at least 50/50 in terms of the computer being a tool for productivity or consumption. Depending on who’s using the computer and when it’s being used this obviously changes but if you look at the parts a computer is made up of it’s still clear that it’s main purpose is being a tool for productivity. The keyboard and mouse are the most effective ways to interact with the computer productively and at the same time any other tools required for certain tasks can easily be plugged in.
So the previous generations being introduced first to computers gave them the advantage of having to deal with it as a tool for work first and something for consumption second. At the same time that’s mostly what they learned in regards to computers. Using them as a tool to get the job done. Since computers were less user-friendly back then they had to learn a few more things to work with them effectively. When it comes to smartphones and the Internet the previous generations probably on average learned just enough to use them for the few tasks they need them for, i.e. browsing Facebook, watching YouTube, sending Texts and making calls. Now when it comes to Zoomers the consensus seems to be now that they’re less tech-literate than their parents. And when we look at how they’re introduced to technology it doesn’t really come as a surprise. Most young people never even use a computer, they only have a smartphone, maybe a tablet or some stupid “smart” IOT device and that’s about it. If we compare the smartphone to the computer there is a glaring difference. While the computer might be used for watching videos or playing games, it is also just as, if not more, useful for writing, drawing, composing, programming or general office work. It can be used for either or. Meanwhile modern phones are one thing primarily: A device for content consumption. It’s evident by just looking at the device and comparing it to a computer. It’s mostly one big screen. Typing on it is a chore, which immediately makes it useless for writing, programming and office work. Touch interfaces are generally inferior to mouse navigation making it useless for more complex digital work. The inferior processing power also rules out any meaningful creative work like composing music, drawing or 3d modelling. Never mind the fact that most of these require extra peripherals that you can’t even connect to the device. The most productive thing a modern smartphone can be used for is making calls or quickly answering an email when you’re someone who isn’t always in an office when working. The portability makes it useful to have around when you’re out and about and have to take a quick picture, record a video or some audio but that is basically it. None of these things require people to use the phone to the extend that most Zoomers are and at the same time none of these tasks teach you anything beyond the absolute basics when it comes to using technology. So most of the time is spent on the myriad of Applications that are available for entertainment. Now how much Zoomers actually spend on them isn’t too important. What is important that the only device most of them have is a device that is at best just a phone, notebook, camera and voice recorder and at worst a black hole for free time. If that is what most of them use on a regular basis it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they have no clue how a computer works. They’ve never even used one. Combine that with the fact that smartphones are engineered to cater to the lowest common denominator and you teach the average Zoomer exactly nothing about the intricacies of modern technology and everything about how to press buttons on a touch screen. Computers are tools so having to think a bit to be able to use them is acceptable but to make the perfect content consumption device maximizing convenience is key but also harmful. To top it all off phones are quite the walled garden. While this has its advantage it also certainly does not do much to encourage curiosity. An Android phone can technically be used as a Linux computer but a large chunk of Zoomers use iOS devices and with locked down Bootloaders tinkering with Android is also becoming harder.
Now while this all sounds all doom and gloom I actually don’t think it’s that bad. At most the average Zoomer is a bit worse at handling technology than some Boomer who had to deal with computers only at his office job. There ares some more glaring issues like the utter obliteration of privacy with smartphones and the software that runs on them but that’s a different topic and even with that I don’t think that all hope is lost. It’s just that most younger people don’t know any better or feel more or less like they don’t have a choice. If I were in the same situation I’d act the same way. Generally speaking the average person of any generation won’t be super interested in any specific technology. That’s just how it is but there’ll always be a hand full of people that are and they’ll excel in their field and most likely be better than even the best of the previous generation. All it takes is curiosity which I think is still very much present. At the same time there are also certain issues that need to be addressed. Most people of any generation aren’t car mechanics and don’t know much about cars but the ones that are usually were at some point or still are curios about cars. The way things are developing that might not be enough any more as technology becomes more and more of a black box discouraging tinkering and repairing. So the right to repair and free software are very essential parts of assuring that any curious individuals of the current and the next generations have a chance at excelling in their fields. That being said I think that programming and technology are probably one of the best fields for this as the barrier of entry is very low. Any field that a curious person can get started in with little perquisites is good, but for programming what Carmack said years ago still holds true. You really only need an old computer and a linux distro with a compiler and with the vast amount of information that can still (more or less) be easily accessed on the Internet anyone can get started if they actually want to.