Thats largely because 90s software was jank, and the internet exposed all kinds of more jank and viruses… but now, most things just work. Also, most people arent really using desktops, their using phones or tablets or game consoles, where the OS is very much locked down.
Comment on Despite tech-savvy reputation, Gen Z falls behind in keyboard typing skills
jballs@sh.itjust.works 2 months agoYeah I don’t know why the article mentions Gen Z’s “tech-savvy reputation”. Being able to operate a cell phone doesn’t make you tech savvy.
Gen X and Millennials grew up using command line and troubleshooting computer problems before the Internet. Their tech skills are way higher than Gen Z.
piccolo@ani.social 2 months ago
bane_killgrind@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
The average user experience has abstracted away understanding how things actually work.
barsoap@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Software is still jank. Well maybe except zfs and sqlite, but the rest is jank. Also seL4.
pineapplelover@lemm.ee 2 months ago
This is why I feel disconnected from most of my gen z people
noodlejetski@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Being able to operate a cell phone doesn’t make you tech savvy
it does, to a boomer
cRazi_man@lemm.ee 2 months ago
I never needed to use command line, but I did hone NY typing skills on MIRC and ICQ.
Pistcow@lemm.ee 2 months ago
*Mavis Beacon.
Anyone responsible for the family IT services had to learn cmd.
Also, the article reminds me of this
inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I’m thankful my father was so insistent on teaching me to type properly. At the time I was super annoyed at him putting a cardboard cutout over the keyboard so I couldn’t see keys. But touch typing has been a boon ever since, I doubt dad was prepping me for typing quickly mid-game but it sure is nice!
Pistcow@lemm.ee 2 months ago
My dad was similar. Guess thats a good thing looking back. I’m going to teach my kid pivot tables so they can rule the world.
pandapoo@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Pretty sure booting into DOS before loading Windows and playing the Oregon Trail on the Apple IIe both count as command line experience.
I also think that as smug as a lot people feel about this, it doesn’t seem far off to think that physical keyboard typing skills could be substituted for efficiency with newer technologies, or refined versions of existing tech. At least in terms of performing most office job functions.
I’m not saying it’ll be more efficient, or better, just that it wouldn’t be a surprising next step given the trends being discussed here.
If that happens, I have no doubt that smugness will turn into self-righteous indignation and a stubborn refusal to abandon the tactile keyboard for older generations, myself included.
I just hope that if that transition occurs during my lifetime, it’s an either-or situation, and not a replacement of the keyboard.
areyouevenreal@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Key chording has always been faster than conventional single letter typing, and that tech has been around for a long time now in the form of stenography machines. Yet most people learn on a conventional keyboard because it’s simpler and more ubiquitous. This is true even now that chording has been adapted to programming and similar tasks.
You have to remember we live in a world where most people don’t even know how to write properly, even those who do it as part of their job like doctors. If you draw letters by moving your fingers, you’re doing it wrong by the way. The actual proper technique involves using your shoulder, elbow, and wrist to do most of the work. We’ve known about this for centuries, and these techniques were designed with dip pens, quils, brush, and fountain pens in mind. The cheap ballpoint pen along with rather bad instructions from teachers has led to proper handwriting technique being forgotten, and causes problems like RSI in people who handwrite regularly.
barsoap@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Oh ball point pens. Last I heard one of the thing they do preserve in primary school over here is the good ole progression from pencil to fountain pen and sticking for that for the whole four years. Pencil because if you use too much force you break the thing without breaking it, it’s just annoying, and that’s the point, once they switch to fountain pens they’re not going to bend them.
I am quite partial to ink rollers nowadays but still can’t stand ordinary ball points. They feel wrong.
Kadaj21@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Anyone else play Montezuma’s Revenge or that DOS King Kong game throwing explosive bananas after inputting stuff for height, angle, force?
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
You mean that inferior version of Scorched Earth?
borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
AI powered keyboard let’s go. Honestly the amount of typing I’ve been able to cut out by just clicking the ai suggested replies in Teams instead of actually typing something out to respond to my coworkers is pretty high.
Kalysta@lemm.ee 2 months ago
I learned mine playing a MUD
You typed fast or you died.
whostosay@lemmy.world 2 months ago
For me it was WoW back when it was more social and you had to communicate via text mid fights and whatnot
subtext@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Definitely RuneScape that did it for me
willya@lemmyf.uk 2 months ago
What about cl_gibcount 1000 in half life.