My sister is a teacher and confirms: While kids play around with their smartphones all the time, they are remarkably ignorant about the basics of computing. They are users, watching videos and composing texts, but when it comes to drivers (okay, who in today's world installs drivers themselves), OS installations, BIOS, but also simpler things like proper backups or Excel formulas, they are completely clueless.
> People born after that date are the digital natives; those born before are digital immigrants, doomed to be forever strangers in a computer-based strange land.
That's a ridiculous notion anyway. If you put in time and effort, you can learn pretty much anything, and computers and programming are no different, no matter the age. And if you do not put in time and effort, you always remain ignorant. It really is that simple.
>That's a ridiculous notion anyway. If you put in time and effort, you can learn pretty much anything, and computers and programming are no different, no matter the age. And if you do not put in time and effort, you always remain ignorant. It really is that simple.
I tend to agree, But younger people have the 'advantage' of being submerged with computers from a very young age. Children tend to pick up things quicker and easier compared to adults. (this is especially true with language, learning a second language as a child is far easier then doing the same as an adult).
Also, i think its unfair to judge people on their knowledge about computing when they are not in the computing field.
most people don't know how to gearbox in their car works, yet they are still able to use a car just fine.
> Also, i think its unfair to judge people on their knowledge about computing when they are not in the computing field.
Yes but you wouldn't call people who don't know how the gearbox works "mechanical native" or something like that just because they grew up with cars. You acknowledge that there are people like mechanics who know that stuff because they learned it, and other people who do not because they did not learn it. It has nothing to do with generations and so on.
> People born after that date are the digital natives; those born before are digital immigrants, doomed to be forever strangers in a computer-based strange land.
That's a ridiculous notion anyway. If you put in time and effort, you can learn pretty much anything, and computers and programming are no different, no matter the age. And if you do not put in time and effort, you always remain ignorant. It really is that simple.