Lemmy is a tech literate echo chamber

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Fleur_@aussie.zone⁩ to ⁨showerthoughts@lemmy.world⁩

I feel like the people I interact with irl don’t even know how to boot from a USB. People here probably know how to do some form of coding or at least navigate a directory through the command line. Stg I would bet money on the average person not even being able to create a Lemmy account without assistance.

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carl_dungeon@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The average person is becoming MORE technologically illiterate, not less. The era of growing up with a home computer that required fiddling and dial up, etc is over. People grow up with phones and iPads and kids come to school not knowing how to use a mouse.

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- DonutsRMeh@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  And for that reason alone I built a Linux PC for my 11 year old and told him to go to town figuring things out. (I supervise everything of course). Dude has been doing fantastic so far.
  
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  - Windex007@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    If he doesn’t solve problems with chmod 777 then he’s already more competent than the ops teams at my fortune 500 company
    
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  - bigfondue@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Cool. I’m old enough that in middle school I begged my Mom to take to the mall to buy Linux. I got Red Hat Linux from a store called Babbage’s.
    
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- NikolaTeslasPigeon@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I grew up starting my computer use having to navigate DOS just before windows 3.11 was released. I work in tech today and I feel like just knowing about a lot of the automated things we take for granted today has given me a little bit of an edge.
  
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  - griff@lemmings.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I had to walk to school in the snow ten miles, both ways uphill!
    
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  - bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    In DOS time I learned how to type quickle because I had to type in cd games cd keen keen as quickly as possible to minimise non-gaming time.
    
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  - HubertManne@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I feel the same about things like irq. Useless but I feel knowing how they worked makes you closer to the hardware.
    
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- treadful@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Hate to say it, but that technical literacy from having to operate computers the difficult way was a small blip in history. So things are just kind of going back to “normal.”
  
  The only real natural entry into “computing” is gaming. Pretty much everything else has to come through formal education, which is largely myopic and boring.
  
  Don’t think I’ve even worked with a gen Z engineer yet. I assume they exist.
  
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  - Know_not_Scotty_does@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I have worked with a few gen z interns/fresh grads, and some younger millennials (I am a 1990 kid) and its interesting… Some of them have been very successful at passing the tests but have no mechanical aptitude at all. Some have been technically literate on first glance, then proven to be just confidently incorrect. In general though, it seems they just didn’t grow up being interested in how things worked like I did. It could be isolated to my small sample size or it could be a general trend. They also don’t seem to make connections scross disciplines as easily either but again, that could just be a time in service thing at this point and not a generational trait.
    
    I have not been super impressed with the new ones we get when we get them, some of them have been quick learners though and have impressed me with their adaptability. I am a huge proponent of proper mentorships or rotational programs and that is something that seems to get overlooked with younger grads in my experience.
    
    One thing that really annoys me though, is that when prompted with something they don’t know, they will spit out some randome bullshit rather than say they don’t know. Saying I don’t know is a completly acceptable answer as long as it is followed up with “but I will find out” or “can you help/explain it”. Falling back to a first principle approach and talking through it is also valid but just making up some shit doesnt fly with me.
    
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  - ech@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Back to what, exactly? At what point in the past was it easier to use a computer than it was in the late 90s? Unless you’re talking about before computers, which doesn’t really have any bearing on what’s being discussed.
    
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  - SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    They exist. They are capable of being smart and curious, but they’re less inherently familiar with the “bleep bloops” as we are.
    
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  - cole@lemdro.id ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I work with a lot of gen z engineers that are very competent
    
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  - freebee@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    There’s still a second natural entry, it is being critical and annoyed by corporate greed in apps, streaming services, ads, accounts for everything etc. The privacy/piracy entry.
    
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- cryptTurtle@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  So a friend of mine went to a convention to show off his gaming project. The kids there were trying to touch the monitors to play the game. They didn't grab the keyboard and mouse. They didn't touch the controller. They touched the monitor. People's framework of what a computer is and what it's made of is completely different than what it use to be
  
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  - BagOfHeavyStones@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Reminds me of my senior teaching days 15 years ago. Solitaire, same.exe and saddam.exe and whack.exe soon had those oldies clicking, double clicking and dragging.
    
    Didn't think then that the situation could reverse.
    
    Same still exists on Android and is still a brain twister.
    
    Image
    
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.kubilayerdogan.samegamel
    
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- mycodesucks@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  You are absolutely right, but let’s be clear here… it’s not so much the lack of keyboard and mouse that’s the problem… it’s that these touchscreen devices don’t let you actually DO anything. The devices you can use a keyboard and mouse on ALLOW you to play, customize, make mistakes, and learn. There’s no reason a touchscreen device couldn’t provide that too, but iOS and Android specifically forbid you from learning anything - that’s a recipe for security holes! And THAT’s the real skill they lack. Real competence means bending the endless possibilities to your will - not just being given 5 of the most common ones and being locked out of the rest.
  
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- lechekaflan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Why there now exists “iPad Kid”.
  
  That a friend I know of has a lot of his kids entirely on smartphones, while their family PC is hidden behind cobwebs and dust; if they want a document printed they just go out to some print shop.
  
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  - EnsignWashout@startrek.website ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    
    if they want a document printed they just go out to some print shop.
    
    In fairness, it can be expensive to stock the holy water necessary to fend off the demons that inhabit all printers.
    
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- UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  The average person is becoming MORE technologically illiterate, not less.
  
  There’s simply no evidence of this
  
  What’s more, the prevalence of cheap, accessible technologies is having a host of knock-on effects. Case in point:
  
  Image
  
  People grow up with phones and iPads and kids come to school not knowing how to use a mouse.
  
  Feels like I’m listening to the Boomer complaining about kids today not knowing how to use a manual transmission.
  
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  - chickenf622@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I wouldn’t say that data is definitive proof. The table is missing ages from 30-under 65 from the table (at least if you’re not logged in, if there is a more complete table please share). Also not sure how good some of the questions are for determining tech literacy. Knowing that Elon Musk ran both Tesla and Twitter in April 2023 is more if you keep up with the news rather than knowing how to work a computer. Other ones are good like being able to identify 2FA or knowing what LLM/AI is capable of.
    
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  - carl_dungeon@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    My wife is a teacher. Kids come to school without the ability to use keyboard and mouse which was not the case in the 90s. I also only drive manual :P
    
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  - HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    
    Feels like I’m listening to the Boomer complaining about kids today not knowing how to use a manual transmission.
    
    There have been some articles regarding beginning CS classes bring required to include teaching concepts like folder structures because a sizeable part of class was list on this concept.
    
    To use your transmission analogy, it would be like truck driving schools now need to how to drive a manual transmission vehicle, which adds to the length of the class. Or all the company vehicles are manual and now the company has to deal with hiring new drivers who don’t know how to drive stick but will say they know how to drive.
    
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  - masterspace@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    LMFAO, bruh, your categories are 18-29, and 65+.
    
    Your Source literally entirely skips over the age group we’re talking about. You’re not proving strong literacy skills of any kind atm.
    
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- SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Imagine studying at uni for years to become a programmer, only to be replaced by a vibe coder with an iPhone.
  
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  - masterspace@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    We all imagine that, is has yet to happen. Vibe coders can produce the spaghetti code of upwards of 10 unpaid interns! What value!
    
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- Siegfried@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Wait, does that mean that we millennials are actually going to be remembered for something good ?^*
  
  We better find a cool name… the golden generation of tech? The tech overlords?
  
  ^* obviously this isnt my opinion
  
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  - SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    And once again, Gen X is completely ignored
    
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- fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Exactly. Exposure to technology does not make you tech literate. Tech literate typically means engaged with new technologies.
  
  For instance, people were using phones, fax machines, calculators, watches, etc when dial up came out. Those users were not considered tech literate.
  
  The same happens today, an iPhone or Android user is not tech literate by default anymore.
  
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- Tollana1234567@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  i also notice they fall for the simplest scams too online,
  
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- Fleur_@aussie.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Ehhh maybe true for the US where they had a solid early tech industry and then made some questionable decisions. I feel like in the rest of the world progress is steady but forwards. Generally young stem university students where I live have all done a programming unit and a technology unit and each year more is added to curriculums whereas older generations might not have been given quite such an extensive education.
  
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  - carl_dungeon@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Thafuq?
    
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  - BassTurd@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Yea, young STEM university students are obviously going to be more technologically literate than their counter parts. That isn’t a new thing and was true for the older generations too.
    
    What questionable decisions are you talking about that the US made that you’re insinuating set them back compared to the rest of the world? The US does have more tech classes now than when I was in school in the early 2000’s. The problem is a vast majority of these kids coming up don’t know how to use computers effectively. It’s not just “using a mouse” that makes someone tech literate. Knowing how to navigate a mobile device, which is designed for ease of use to accommodate even the dumbest people, does not make someone tech literate. Some are power users, but most have nothing more than a surface level knowledge of how to use it. There’s little to no troubleshooting skills.
    
    All of those mobile devices are programmed by actual tech literate people that understand coding, the network stack, security, and the general inner workings of how computers work. This generation coming out now doesn’t know any of that because they never use computers.
    
    And lastly, holy fuck what’s wrong with you? Jesus fucking Christ you just came out shooting in that second half. The person you replied to made a valid, factual point, and you apparently took that as a personal attack. What the fuck do trans people have to do with this? What a fucked up transition to make and shit to take. You need help, dude.
    
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  - Jankatarch@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    One time I said "Hey this TUI program works perfect on every single distribution and even BSDs, takes no performance issues ever, and just overall good program.
    
    I wanna check contributors on github. It was all either anime or trans flag pfps.
    
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- vivalapivo@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Soon the era of hosting own VPN and tricking AI will start
  
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RedIce25@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Something that amazes me that I often see is tech literate people wastly over estimating the tech literacy of an average person. Any amount of tech support would tell you that most people barley know the basics and doesn’t care for anything else.

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- AmbitiousProcess@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Relevant xkcd:
  
  xkcd
  
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  - misteloct@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    It’s easy to forget the average person probably only knows terminal commands for Debian. And Fedora, of course.
    
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  - ElectricWaterfall@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Whenever this topic comes up particularly with tech literacy, this article never ceases to amaze me: www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/
    
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- kopasz7@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The curse of knowledge; makes you lose the perspective of the average man in the field of your expertise.
  
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  - naught101@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    How bad this is in practice is something you can choose to mitigate simply by regularly talking to normal people.
    
    Source: I’m a climate scientist, I do this all the time (and only rarely get looks of complete confusion)
    
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  - BassTurd@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Once you work at a place doing lvl 1 tech support, like say a Geek Squad, the perspective smacks you in the face everyday until you’re broken.
    
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- naught101@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  No, farmers know barley, average people bearly know
  
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  - Eczpurt@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    No, Baloo, Paddington, and Winnie the Pooh know bearly. Average people barely know.
    
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  - Tai@mander.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    No, biologists know bearly, average people, bairly know
    
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- Rawrosaurus@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I know people who claim to be tech literate but then keep sending me actual photos of their screen whenever they want to share anything. :|
  
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  - BassTurd@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Admittedly, I do almost all of my messaging from my phone, and 100% of Lemmy. Most of the time if I have something on my computer to share, it’s easiest to just take a picture. If fidelity matters, I can take a screen grab and share it to my phone via KDE connect. It’s not a matter of knowing how, it’s the effort required for a slightly clearer image.
    
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- cryptTurtle@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  When something goes wrong the average response is some amount of confusion and anger with rapid clicking
  
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- Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  There’s a huge number of people here who would learn a lot from giving tech support to someone like my mum.
  
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Matriks404@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Linux is second nature to us geeks, so it’s easy to forget that the average person probably knows just Ubuntu or Fedora.

And Debian GNU/Linux, of course.

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- Jobe@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Wait is this already in reference to the xkcd about experts overestimating the average person’s knowledge about their subject or should I go look for it?
  
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  - cows_are_underrated@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    It absolutely sounds like a reference to the xkcd.
    
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- ArrowMax@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Webcomics are second nature to us geeks, so it’s easy to forget that the average person probably knows just ADHDinos and Loving Reaper.
  
  And xkcd, of course.
  
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  - kerntucky@infosec.pub ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Of course.
    
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  - Bubbey@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Unless it’s the worst slop on r/comics like PizzaCake, then it has like 50k upvotes from the lowest common denominator.
    
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- Goldmage263@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Hey, the average person doesn’t even know what Linux is, nor what thermal paste is.
  
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- ameancow@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I am very technical-minded and have been using PC’s since the early 90’s on a pretty deep level, but have no experience or interest in anything linux related so about 30% of Lemmy frontpage posts might as well be Sanskrit.
  
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- Fleur_@aussie.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Naturally
  
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- gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  This should be a copypasta.
  
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waitaminute@midwest.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Not me. I am so out of the loop here. But I loved the social aspect of reddit and was on it long enough to know how great it was when it was young. Hoping to find that here.

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- mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Honestly, Lemmy does have a lot of the early Reddit vibes. If you start using user tags, you’ll realize just how active users are, and how tight-knit the comments sections really are. I often end up finding myself responding to the same 10-20 users.
  
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- Saleh@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  NGL, a lot of my relative tech literacy comes from just seeing all the programming posts too and getting curios.
  
  Just the other day i learned that there is so called “snowflakes” that apprently work as a way to enter the tor network by pretending to be a video call. Crazy cool stuff some people come up with.
  
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- Fleur_@aussie.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Welcome to the trenches.
  
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Vrijgezelopkamers@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I can’t do any of the stuff you mentioned. I’m here because I hate traditional social media that are not social at all. And I hate ads. And have an interest in community driven stuff and DIY.

And I don’t feel like I am alone here.

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- Taco2112@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’m with you, I can’t do any of that stuff. I don’t like most social media , the lack of ads and 3rd party apps was a big factor for me to join.
  
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- Fleur_@aussie.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Dw it’s easy just type
  
  sudo computer open the pornography file
  
  And that’s how you command line navigate
  
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lucullus@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Relevant xkcd: Average familiarity

You severly overestimate the average persons tech literacy even when you try to correct for it. Booting from USB is already a really advanced topic.

Though creating a lemmy account is not that complex. Typically all you have to do is fill out a form on the websiten instructions included. The problem there is not the tech literacyn but the willingness of the people to even interact with systems they don’t know, like finding a home instance or understanding the concept of the fediverse. Most people could create a lemmy account, though also most people wouldn’t.

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- ConstableJelly@midwest.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  Though creating a lemmy account is not that complex. Typically all you have to do is fill out a form on the websiten instructions included. The problem there is not the tech literacyn but the willingness of the people to even interact with systems they don’t know, like finding a home instance or understanding the concept of the fediverse. Most people could create a lemmy account, though also most people wouldn’t.
  
  Spot on, it feels complicated because they don’t understand what’s being asked. I’ve said this before previously, but most people have no concept of frontends and backends. For most people, Twitter is just something that’s on their phone, and it uses the internet to see what other people have in their Twitter apps on their phones.
  
  Because internet usage and software generally is like 99.999% commercial, even the idea of closed and open source probably doesn’t make sense to a lot of people. “Check out Mastodon, it’s like Twitter but anyone can host it” would mean nothing to the average user. I’m on the absolute lower end of tech literacy in this community, so it’s constantly apparent how much my Lemmy friends overestimate the general population.
  
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iridebikes@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The average person can’t even download the right authenticator app when prompted. The average person can’t type their password the same way two times in a password change field. The average person does not know how to plug monitors and peripherals into a docking station.

Whatever you think the average skill level is? It’s lower than that. By a lot.

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Nangijala@feddit.dk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Don’t worry, my fair tech-literate maiden. I, a tech-dyslexic, am here to bring down the collective IQ and make the chamber echo less. You can thank me later, for adding some much needed intellectual diversity to the mix.

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happydoors@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
You are completely correct and their comments prove it. The bubble is strong here. But it’s a pretty nice bubble

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possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
*with strong beliefs on random topics

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ConstantPain@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Not my fault. Reddit pushed me here!

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BenVimes@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
My own experience, as someone who is not necessarily tech illiterate, but also not an expert either:

I decided to check out some basic Linux stuff, and found a post directing newcomers to a website that was supposed to be a top-notch beginner’s guide. This guide started with a history of Linux, written in the style of an early 2000s GameFAQs guide. It then jumped immediately into selecting a distro, and started describing each option with terms like "lightweight"and “robust” without explaining what those terms meant in that context - or even defining what a distro was in the first place.

As someone who has used Windows for around 3 decades, I could make some inferences to fill in the gaps. But I imagine someone with less experience with PCs would get completely lost.

Now on the flip side, I’ve also shared in another thread the story of how I lost interest in programming partway through my introductory university course, and mostly received positive feedback. The folks in that thread seemed happy to hear the perspective of an outsider.

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webpack@ani.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
makes sense, since Linux users (me) are drawn to foss projects like moths to a light

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CtrlAltDefeat@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Anonymity and the general public do not mix. Barrier to entry is all we have left.

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McDropout@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I am not tech literate but here I am.

imposter

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aesthelete@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
This is true but I ultimately don’t care.

Is there any social media site that isn’t an echo chamber? They’re designed this way on purpose in most cases.

There are enough forums catering to idiots. I appreciate the better moderation, tech savviness, and lack of tolerance for right wing BS on Lemmy.

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Zamboni_Driver@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I don’t think it’s an echo chamber, I think you are wrong about that. The proof is that I am disagreeing with you right now. Therefore, not an echo chamber.

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glitchdx@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Why would normal people know how to boot from usb? Shit, if you clean the ads out of a windows start menu, a normie will think you’re a wizard for doing the inconceivable.

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Randomgal@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yes. And everyone thinks they are the smartest human ever because of it. As you can tell by the responses here lol

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Doomsider@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The average person nowadays could not create and reliably access a Facebook account if they didn’t have auto complete/password save.

The worst is twenty-year-olds that have never used a desktop. They just state at the mouse, keyboard, and monitor like they have no clue what to do.

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CaptainHowdy@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I just don’t understand how it’s more “techy” than Reddit. I just want our user count to keep going up.

I think we should focus less on hyping federation/decentralization and more on how there are no ads and the content is really coming from actual users (and maybe a leftist bias).

I got a few friends on here by explaining that choosing a server is no different from choosing an email provider. Everyone understands email, that you can communicate with most other email users no matter what their provider is.

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Krudler@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
“Whats the best tool for…”

“Linux!!!”

“Haven’t yet said what I’m trying to build”

“Pls just upvote me and tell me I’m good”

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Zozano@aussie.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
For the past month I’ve been developing a NixOS platform for local businesses.

I keep overestimating how much people know. It’s infuriating trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I don’t need to explain why it’s amazing, just that it is, and it works. I feel like I’m Mugatu talking to Zoolander at times.

Even if I could perfectly analogise what a declarative operating system is, it wouldn’t matter to a client because they don’t understand how a non NixOS machine works.

Though, the worst part is trying to explain to someone, who is “happy with Windows” why they should not be.

How the fuck do people in 2025 not fucking loathe Windows? There’s fucking ads in the start menu. There’s like 4 different places to change settings. The systems bloat and slow to a crawl as the OS ages.

It’s fucked.

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kameecoding@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Very much so, when I brought up that I am a software developer who just loves using their Macbook, because it just works, I was told I stupid because I am now locked in and what if I want to compile my own flavor of window manager, like with no sense of fucking irony.

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tungsten5@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
My mom is a tech literate echo chamber lmao

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TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
its because we’re old people.

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ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I lived in a tech echo chamber until I was in my 30s. This is because my dad is a baby boomer computer engineer who was working with computers since the 70s and we always had a computer at home (no consoles, just computers). First was a c64, we even briefly had a c128 (that didn’t work) and then we got a 386 followed by pentium machines and we first hooked up to the internet in the 90s… and before the internet we went on dial up BBSes run by ultra nerds.

My dad still keeps up with tech and is probably better with computers than many recent CS graduates. It wasn’t until I worked in tech support that I realized… Holy shit! There are people who have no idea their computers have directories! As in, if the shortcut isn’t on their desktop, then their program might as well not exist.

Also one thing I learned that if you tell someone to go to a site and you spell the URL to them, then 99.9% of the time they will Google it, because they don’t know what an address bar is.

I used to think those ‘how to use a computer’ courses in college were a giant waste of time (and an easy A for people like us) but I realize that these people could absolutely benefit from something like that.

And that is when I was working with people who had laptops mostly. When I worked in mobile tech support… fuck me! Do you realize that for a sizable chunk of the population the only computer they have is their smart phone? Those people are far, far worse. When I worked in mobility we were not allowed to hang up on clients for any reason (it was grounds for immediate termination) but at least a few times a week I had to deal with a client who did not know how to hang up their phone! No joke. They were accustomed to the other person hanging up and they didn’t know how to do it!

This is doubly frustrating when those people are using flip phones rhat have a clear hang up button on them.

So yeah, acknowledging we are in a bubble is a good thing. But it isn’t a bad thing to hang out with fellow tech nerds either.

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Bubbey@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I find the echo chamber to be nice when it is semi tech-minded people that aren’t an unending diatribe of reposted wholesome stories/fake chatgpt posts/godawful jokes in the comments that stopped being funny in 2012.

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TheTurner@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I don’t know how to code, but I know my way around computers.

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Quazatron@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I can live with that.

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