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The Rise of the Tech-Savvy Parent

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Re: The Rise of the Tech-Savvy Parent

#51

Post by kyriakos »

colmvp wrote: post #43
alephnil wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In fact, it is much harder to tinker with technology than it used to be. Not only is it more complex, but phones are also locked down so you are not really able to control your own device, or it does at least require quite some effort to do so, and can't be done using the device itself. Both Apple and Google in practice discourage people from tinkering with the device.

Maybe. I remember having a hard time searching for information when I was young, as it was pre-internet and I was reliant on my parents on driving me places like the library to access information. Nowadays, if you want to learn the ins and outs of something, you can order books online or watch informative video tutorials made by people who have been in the tech field for a significant amount of time.

I think the lack of availability of information made us more creative. I was trying to build a side scroller game when I was a kid in Turbo Pascal, there was no Internet and nowhere I could find out how to do it. Even though I never managed it in the end I spent countless hours trying and coming up with my own solutions to problems. I wouldn't have been the developer I am today if someone just gave me Unity and YouTube to copy parts from tutorials without allowing me to understand how things work at the lower level.

Re: The Rise of the Tech-Savvy Parent

#52

Post by ghaff »

kijin wrote: post #41
sametmax wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, nowaday most people drive but can't fix their cars. Makes sense the same is happening with IT.

Yup, not having to fix your own car happened one generation ago. Now it's happening to computers.

Like computers, it varied. Neither my parents nor I ever did our own car maintenance to any significant degree up to and including oil changes. And I don't think that's a particular outlier.

OTOH, my dad did a significant amount of major renovation work with the fixer-upper house I grew up in.

A lot of it comes down to choosing how you spend your time and what skills you choose to develop. Because you probably can't do everything yourself.

Re: The Rise of the Tech-Savvy Parent

#53

Post by codazoda »

ddebernardy wrote: post #8

It's not clear to me why they should be "digitally superior" - whatever that means. Kids just need to tap icons on their touchscreens nowadays. They seldom need to tinker with or troubleshoot computers. Just spitballing here, but I'd expect peak tech-savviness to have occurred in the 80s and early 90s. If you were old enough to want to play resource intensive games released in the run-up to Win95, you'd sometimes nee…

I think it's just about desire and passion. I'm a computer programmer, recently writing zines that teach programming by creating art, and I was pretty sure my kids would be technically inclined. They aren't. They just don't have the same desire and that's okay.

My zines, if you're interested.

https://gumroad.com/l/splashofcode/hn

Re: The Rise of the Tech-Savvy Parent

#54

Post by sametmax »

ghaff wrote: post #52
kijin wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, not having to fix your own car happened one generation ago. Now it's happening to computers.

Like computers, it varied. Neither my parents nor I ever did our own car maintenance to any significant degree up to and including oil changes. And I don't think that's a particular outlier. OTOH, my dad did a significant amount of major renovation work with the fixer-upper house I grew up in. A lot of it comes down to choosing how you spend your time and what skills you choose to develop. Because you probably can't…

The cost becomes exponential though. Learning to fix a tesla is not the same as learning to fix a 70' ford.

Re: The Rise of the Tech-Savvy Parent

#55

Post by Godel_unicode »

alephnil wrote: post #13
ddebernardy wrote: post #8

It's not clear to me why they should be "digitally superior" - whatever that means. Kids just need to tap icons on their touchscreens nowadays. They seldom need to tinker with or troubleshoot computers. Just spitballing here, but I'd expect peak tech-savviness to have occurred in the 80s and early 90s. If you were old enough to want to play resource intensive games released in the run-up to Win95, you'd sometimes nee…

In fact, it is much harder to tinker with technology than it used to be. Not only is it more complex, but phones are also locked down so you are not really able to control your own device, or it does at least require quite some effort to do so, and can't be done using the device itself. Both Apple and Google in practice discourage people from tinkering with the device.

It's only harder if you make it harder and don't put any thought into it.

Desktop computers still exist, and you can still order the parts to make your own. You can even buy cool glass cases where the parts are exposed and all light up.

Raspberry pi are essentially free, and can be used for all kinds of interesting stuff. Do that.

See also Razer synapse, the El gato streamdeck, programmable keyboards, all of which still exist.

Phones are not the only computers.

Re: The Rise of the Tech-Savvy Parent

#56

Post by Godel_unicode »

noir_lord wrote: post #37
ddebernardy wrote: post #8

It's not clear to me why they should be "digitally superior" - whatever that means. Kids just need to tap icons on their touchscreens nowadays. They seldom need to tinker with or troubleshoot computers. Just spitballing here, but I'd expect peak tech-savviness to have occurred in the 80s and early 90s. If you were old enough to want to play resource intensive games released in the run-up to Win95, you'd sometimes nee…

I'm seeing this right now, I grew up programming (started at 7), at 9 I was way more computer fluent than my 9 year old step-son is now. I think it's simply that modern machines are (generally) so reliable that you never have to get under the hood to figure out what broke until you (rarely) do and then you have no conceptual framework for trying to resolve what is broken. His trouble shooting process is handing it to…

Off topic, but you might be interested in this, it's an attempt at an API for fortnite stats etc.

https://github.com/qlaffont/fortnite-api

Re: The Rise of the Tech-Savvy Parent

#57

Post by shostack »

gordaco wrote: post #27
bmking wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although I would like to think that the next generation will be renowned for the "tinkerers of something else that comes out", it is also true that industry and society has changed a lot in that regard. Back in your parents day, your dad was able to have a holistic view on his car and repair many parts also because it was more simple back then. And it was also possible to repair TVs, toasters, lawnmower and whatnot.…

Indeed. Things become more consumer friendly, i.e. more general public friendly, but less power user friendly. This happened with cars (they have many electronic components that aren't as easy to repair as it was in the past, when everything was mechanic) and has been happening with computers for some time, regarding both software and hardware (walled gardens, dumbed-down operating systems with fewer and fewer config…

I'd argue things have become more consumer-hostile, not friendly. Ease of use should not be conflated with policies that restrict users from doing what they want with their devices because they "no longer own them" or force business models like printer ink.

Re: The Rise of the Tech-Savvy Parent

#58

Post by ghaff »

sametmax wrote: post #54
ghaff wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like computers, it varied. Neither my parents nor I ever did our own car maintenance to any significant degree up to and including oil changes. And I don't think that's a particular outlier. OTOH, my dad did a significant amount of major renovation work with the fixer-upper house I grew up in. A lot of it comes down to choosing how you spend your time and what skills you choose to develop. Because you probably can't…

The cost becomes exponential though. Learning to fix a tesla is not the same as learning to fix a 70' ford.

Sure. Some tasks are more accessible to someone willing to put in the time and buy a reasonable collection of tools than others. But even if I could, say, teach myself to build a deck or lay a brick patio--or a myriad of other tasks around my house and in my personal life, I'll probably still choose to let someone else handle some portion of them based on interest, money, perceived difficulty, available time, etc.

Re: The Rise of the Tech-Savvy Parent

#59

Post by maxxxxx »

auxym wrote: post #35
fmajid wrote: post #33

It has nothing to do with generation. About 5% of the population has the neurological wiring that makes a good programmer. The rest are just passive users of technology, just as clueless politicians and educators seem to think teaching Excel (a useful skill) somehow constitutes Computer Science.

Do you have a source for that 5% figure? I mean, I suspect as much from my own experience, but I'm curious to know if there's actual research out there.

I think the exact number comes out of thin air but from observation I agree that only a minority of people are cut out for this work. Most will find it boring and tedious.

Re: The Rise of the Tech-Savvy Parent

#60

Post by [deleted] »

ghaff wrote: post #49
high_derivative wrote: post #17

I have long thought the term 'digital native' is a sort of filter for people who are not actually technologists but avid consumers of mostly social platforms. I (as a computer scientist) have never heard people actually working in tech refer to themselves as that.

It's a term and concept that came out of essentially sociology writing by a number of different people in the late 90s and early 2000s. As the linked article suggests though, it's not clear it's a particularly useful term. The digital immigrants are often more tech savvy in at least many respects than the natives because they once had to be. And most of the people I work with in tech have had absolutely no problem fu…

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