Alright this wasn’t supposed to be a TED talk but turns out I’m passionate about this and the Adderall kicked in…
I don’t think it’s on older gens on a user level for the most part.
I try to teach the kids in my life computer stuff all the time. I know lots of “my dad’s in IT” kids that grew up understanding how computers work even on a basic level.
We who care, do so fervently, and are often drowned out by the noise.
Let’s point the finger more accurately: It’s 99% on how tech companies forced the evolution of computing to their benefit. They decided what “the future” would be, and sold us out to it.
Instead of fully functioning computers, “Kids these days” have grown up with flat little content-consumption devices that make sure you literally can’t understand how they work. Everything is framed as some esoteric black box service brought to you by a cabal of qualified wizards. (Look at Windows’ whole “We’re doing things for you behind this pulsing blue screen” schtick. Funny how opaque an OS called “Windows” has become.)
The entire design motif of modern devices seems to scream:
“Don’t ask questions. You’re too stupid for that. Know your place. Just put a payment method on file and tap whatever you could want for just 99¢ more!”
They’re black-box appliances that were aggressively marketed to families at home, and these companies shelled out tablets and chromebooks as “grants” to schools, to secure a mind-share of future customers who were “raised on it” and know nothing else.
The Silicon Valley titans have normalized addiction algorithms, invisible data mining, zero privacy, planned obsolescence of entire devices with non-replacable parts, browser-based-everything, subscription-tiers for everything, no ownership over purchases, and consumption-first design.
Computing knowledge has become a “magic box” to the point that colleges need to spend valuable time explaining file types and folders. Before college?
Hah! We’re back to the 80’s again: Only real nerds have a desktop in the house.
Elementary schools have replaced their computer labs with cheap e-waste-quality chromebooks where students do everything through a browser. Computing education went the way of arts, history, and music. Gone, unless it’s a fancy private school.
They’re stretched thin as it is, and the curriculum is increasingly based on standardized testing on “STEM” over everything else. Why?
Because employers want a large pool of punctual test-passers to choose from, and corporations want generationally vendor-locked customers to secure future earnings.
This is why, despite how the world runs on computers, to the majority, emails are space magic. Nobody knows nor cares about their privacy being sold off, and nobody bothers to learn about computers in the first place.
A “technical user” is super intimidating to “normies” because they know things like “There are multiple browsers” and “You can copy and paste”. I’m not even kidding.
It’s depressing as hell. Maybe some of it is on our generation, for not fighting harder for user rights.
This is why Linux has such a cult following: it flies in the face of this hypercapitalist customer-farm nonsense, and people find that refreshing. I’m happy to hear of more kids using it, and messing with things like Pis.
Alright this wasn’t supposed to be a TED talk but turns out I’m passionate about this and the Adderall kicked in…
I don’t think it’s on older gens on a user level for the most part. I try to teach the kids in my life computer stuff all the time. I know lots of “my dad’s in IT” kids that grew up understanding how computers work even on a basic level.
We who care, do so fervently, and are often drowned out by the noise.
Let’s point the finger more accurately: It’s 99% on how tech companies forced the evolution of computing to their benefit. They decided what “the future” would be, and sold us out to it.
Instead of fully functioning computers, “Kids these days” have grown up with flat little content-consumption devices that make sure you literally can’t understand how they work. Everything is framed as some esoteric black box service brought to you by a cabal of qualified wizards. (Look at Windows’ whole “We’re doing things for you behind this pulsing blue screen” schtick. Funny how opaque an OS called “Windows” has become.)
The entire design motif of modern devices seems to scream:
“Don’t ask questions. You’re too stupid for that. Know your place. Just put a payment method on file and tap whatever you could want for just 99¢ more!”
They’re black-box appliances that were aggressively marketed to families at home, and these companies shelled out tablets and chromebooks as “grants” to schools, to secure a mind-share of future customers who were “raised on it” and know nothing else.
The Silicon Valley titans have normalized addiction algorithms, invisible data mining, zero privacy, planned obsolescence of entire devices with non-replacable parts, browser-based-everything, subscription-tiers for everything, no ownership over purchases, and consumption-first design.
Computing knowledge has become a “magic box” to the point that colleges need to spend valuable time explaining file types and folders. Before college?
Hah! We’re back to the 80’s again: Only real nerds have a desktop in the house.
Elementary schools have replaced their computer labs with cheap e-waste-quality chromebooks where students do everything through a browser. Computing education went the way of arts, history, and music. Gone, unless it’s a fancy private school.
They’re stretched thin as it is, and the curriculum is increasingly based on standardized testing on “STEM” over everything else. Why?
Because employers want a large pool of punctual test-passers to choose from, and corporations want generationally vendor-locked customers to secure future earnings.
This is why, despite how the world runs on computers, to the majority, emails are space magic. Nobody knows nor cares about their privacy being sold off, and nobody bothers to learn about computers in the first place.
A “technical user” is super intimidating to “normies” because they know things like “There are multiple browsers” and “You can copy and paste”. I’m not even kidding.
It’s depressing as hell. Maybe some of it is on our generation, for not fighting harder for user rights.
This is why Linux has such a cult following: it flies in the face of this hypercapitalist customer-farm nonsense, and people find that refreshing. I’m happy to hear of more kids using it, and messing with things like Pis.
In some places there’s hope.
Thanks for hearing me out.
Thanks for this. Well put.
Thank you for reading it, and for your appreciation. It means a lot. :)