this post was submitted on 20 Feb 2024
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All this really means is they grew up navigating digital spaces socially. I've discovered first hand that the generation at large has little-to-no knowledge of the technical workings of even the computers they use regularly, imo due to the "apple-fication" (one button? Really?) of digital devices. Most exclusively use their cell phone as their digital device, or a chromebook provided by their school, all of which have been streamlined to the extreme to "enhance" the user experience, but have in actuality given them absolutely zero-experience learning how to troubleshoot or incentive to dig into how their devices operate. I've had to walk teens through how to navigate the file directories on their laptops.
In the past, the only people to be "techies" (ie people seeking out spaces like the Internet) were ones willing and able to deal with hurdles and issues, and the window is apparently quiet narrow for people who grew up with tech (to an extent) and also had to learn how to handle issues like that. The majority of others are either those described above, or those that never saw tech as important or worth it (though we're also seeing the consequences of those people finding their way onto the "one-button" internet in meme/conspiracy addicted boomers).
Agreed, Big Tech's quest for UX and frictionless Interfaces has lead to a generation of people who vastly overestimate their tech savviness and are basically only great at navigating walled gardens made specifically to be easy to use.
It's not really their fault though: in addition to frontends becoming ever easier to use, backends are also becoming increasingly complex. 20 years ago you could learn a bit of HTML and CSS and throw a decent website together, but nowadays you need to master tons of other skills (graphical design, scripting, etc.) to make even so much as a web page that won't scare people away immediately. It's hard to get interested in this stuff when the barrier of entry is getting higher and higher, while tons of GAFAM-made alternative are already available for "free"
Seriously. It's infuriating. Everything is so damn dumbed down now it's ridiculous! People are incapable of doing so much as reading error messages and doing basic troubleshooting, sometimes I wonder where society went wrong. They're completely helpless with the technology that makes up more and more of our lives, and I hate to see it.
Looking at it this way is what stops people from trying though :(
Definitely not, and to clarify, I am laying any blame there is to be doled out at the feet of companies.
I do wonder if it's reversible at this point, though. I don't see any company choosing to reverse course, at least not in a way that would cause a large-scale shift. Incapable users are the best they could hope for - uninterested in seeking out anything other than what they are handed and, if they ever did decide to look around, unable to adapt to "harsher" alternatives. Legislation certainly isn't going to be expected. No government is going to mandate citizens have a "worse" experience. Perhaps a purposeful cultural shift, but that would take a lot of coordination of people that likely don't see the issue or simply don't care. I feel like we're past the watershed here, as frustrating and concerning as that is.