• stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    Does Gen Z actually have a tech savvy reputation? I was under the impression that the last few generations aren’t that great with computers as they more grew up with mature technology. It is the Gen X and Millennials that are more digital native while having used computers where advanced skills were required.

    • magic_smoke@links.hackliberty.org
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      3 months ago

      Depends, the younger half that’s adjacent to gen alpha? Sure.

      On the other side of that coin, I’m in my mid 20s. Not sure about the rest of the older members of gen-z, but my first experience with a computer was Classic Mac OS and Reader Rabbit.

      I barely remember when we got the late PIII purple Compaq presario running XP when I was like 3/4. Playing red faction, and shit my brother showed me on new grounds. I remember my mom showing me how to pirate sabbath using Morpheus. Filling the machine up with useless IE toolbars.

      Early YouTube was fucking sweet in the worst way possible, though at first I had to sneak it because that was considered a not-for-kids site at the time.

      No one my age really touched a smartphone til like middle/highschool. By then we where all already playing halo:CE and early releases of MC on the win 7 machines in the lab.

      I personally had already had basic Photoshop/paint.net and scripting/programming skills trying to make shit for Minecraft (and Roblox before that.)

      Granted I also might be a bad example because I ended up working in IT, have written software to some capacity since I was 12, collect vintage machines, and keep a server rack as a pet. Furthermore, the vast majority of my daily computing happens within a collection of virtual machines running Debian.

      Personally my solution to the problem was building a Linux Mint machine for my niece and her stepbrothers. Took them a bit to figure things out, but it seems to be going well.

      Also bonus ageing juice for all you geezers out there:

      Gen-z will technically be entering its thirties soon :P

      • emax_gomax@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Gen-z will technically be entering its thirties soon :P

        Fake news. We’re still in the year 2018 and I’m stayin 18 forever. Σ(’ ε 'oノ)ノ

      • Lvxferre@mander.xyz
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        3 months ago

        The difference is sort of like the difference between a qualified ESL teacher and a native English speaker […]

        This example is perfect - native teachers (regardless of the language being taught) are often clueless on which parts of their languages are hard to master, because they simply take it for granted. Just like zoomers with tech - they take for granted that there’s some “app”, that you download it, without any further thought on where it’s stored or how it’s programmed or anything like that.

    • ravhall@discuss.online
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      3 months ago

      I agree with you. I think they would kick everyone’s ass at thumb typing though. I was a T9 champion.