i just want zoomers to know that computers were actually useful once. before the iphone/ipad/android/chromebook, computers ran software that was just like a program that did what it was supposed to do. also the internet used to have a lot of cool stuff on it that didn't give you an anxiety disorder
before spotify there was grooveshark and 8track and pandora that let you make public playlists and find new music. there was a time when pop-ups & intrusive ads were considered a problem of the old web that we had sensibly left behind us. it absolutely wasn't perfect but it did suck less
the biggest failure of my generation internet-wise was believing that its positive qualities were inherent, that "scarcity" was impossible to manufacture for digital goods ("information wants to be free" etc). alas, turned out an unregulated market can do whatever the fuck it wants even if it sucks
the last few years for me has been real eye-opening, in that i've realized just how thoroughly the early net optimism was a marketing ploy to expand the web's reach, make us dependent so they could charge rent. the positives EXISTED, but they were not inherent and they've largely been abandoned
but like. when i was growing up we were taught how to use computers. do they teach you how to use computers or do they just stick you in front of a touch screen with apps? do you do command line shit? do you learn html/css? christ, do they even teach netiquette anymore? that used to be a big thing
'gen z'-er here, netiquette was never super prevalent but I still grew up in a time where computer class was integral. 7th grade was my first exposure to making a website. I will be transparent; I worked in IT/networking and had unrestricted Internet access in the 00s, so I always tinkered around-
with tech and was exposed to it very early. Younger ones especially alpha are the poster child for "iPad kids", and it's a shame to see them in such a state on top of computer classes not really encouraging them to still know even the parts of a computer.
Hopefully this doesn't come across as any version of (X)-splaining, I genuinely agree with everything and just wanted to give some of my own perspective.
Thank you! And hey, I'm still learning; I replaced my first hard drive with an SSD this month and I feel great, but I genuinely Don't think many younger people are encouraged to tinker with tech. They're still out there though, some Roblox stuff goes crazy. ☠️
And as someone who has taught computer literacy to adults with special needs, I'm annoyed at how reliant people are on endless subscription / commercial based apps for education. Old 90s computer games CAN still engage children and encourage computer readiness, but they don't exist anymore. ☠️
Fellow gen z person here, I was kinda taught netiquette, but it was more copyright laws and how to look smth up on google (wich is still good to learn lol)
How to look something up on google 2024 edition:
Type query
Click "search"
Ignore the first half a page of ads, AI and sponsored results
Change your keywords several times, maybe use quotation marks
Give up and go check Reddit for the answer.
And Reddit has a bunch of passive aggressive know it all's at worst, or the person who answered your question years ago had their post deleted at best, so it's not a great resource in my experience. ☠️
Still marginally more likely to give me an answer than Google, unfortunately. Search engines used to be these amazing things that would deliver real web pages matching your query, now they're just delivery systems for autogenerated slop.
