• OleDoxieDad@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    7 days ago

    Converting a PDF to Excel repeatedly on Adobe by clearing the browsing history each time, saves you hundreds a year.

  • SS2k_2003@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    7 days ago

    There should be a class where they force you to install arch Linux without the automated install script and force people to learn how an OS works, or even make them do a Gentoo installation. You only pass it if you get to a fully functioning PC with a web browser and desktop environment

  • ssillyssadass@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    164
    ·
    9 days ago

    Computers have been dumbed down and simplified for the masses. When I was a kid a computer did not cooperate until you raised your voice.

  • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    93
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    9 days ago

    I can:

    • Accomplish damn near anything from a command line
    • Write machine code
    • Remember a fairly broad swath of special character altcodes without looking them up
    • Disassemble damn near any computer or other machine, and stand a good chance of putting it back together

    But also:

    • Use modern programming languages, including object oriented paradigms
    • Actually read what is on my screen and comprehend it, including error messages
    • Understand and operate any arbitrary interface without having to have it explained to me by rote

    Behold my mixture of skills, and tremble.

    • merc@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      7 days ago

      Write machine code? For what kind of processor?

      That is one ability that doesn’t really belong. That’s much more of a Boomer thing. Not all boomers, obviously, but the ones who were computer experts were the ones who had to learn machine code. By the time even Gen X came along, assembler and C were already much more common.

    • TheEntity@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      72
      ·
      9 days ago

      Can you summarize this in a vertical video? I stopped reading after the third word, I’m here for memes, not to read a damned book!

    • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      9 days ago

      I can

      • reinstall VLC

      oh wait that was all the dependencies VLC needed, I deleted them??, oh no, oh crap. Why isn’t my password working, help???

      (real reason why my first Ubuntu distro got nuked)

      • uranibaba@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        9 days ago

        I once wanted to move all the files in the folder was I in to another folder and I did something like mv /* ../. What is important here is that I did /* and not ./*. Fortunately it was only a raspberry pi so it went fast to flash the SD card.

        Also, how did you go about reinstalling VLC if you deleted all dependencies?

        • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          9 days ago

          that I did /* and not ./*

          that’s so funny but so sad 😭😭

          how did you go about reinstalling VLC if you deleted all dependencies

          I just distrohopped to kubuntu instead lol

    • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      9 days ago

      I’d argue at a certain depth in an OS its actually harder to do things with a GUI than a command line

    • otacon239@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      9 days ago

      The day I started learning Regex was the day I felt like I was really learning computers. I went from 2 hour tasks to 15 minutes.

      I doubt you’d even be able to reasonably explain what they are let alone how they work to the average person outside the Millennial generation.

      I fear AI data processing will replace much of the Regex skill set. Why learn Regex when the computer just does it for you… 🙄

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        7 days ago

        Silly millennial, even Boomers were using regexen in the 70s, and they were commonplace by the time GenX nerds started playing with them in the 80s and 90s. Your elders also know that regexen are fun but extremely dangerous, and should only be used in cases where they won’t make things much worse.

      • mearce@programming.dev
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        9 days ago

        I agree that regex is an important thing to learn. Not sure any old LLM would do a very good job, and I hope that no tool replaces people actually learning how to write regex.

        I’m not sure what you mean about the average person outside the millennial generation not understanding them, though. Maybe I’m mistaken, but I don’t think the ‘average’ person in any generation knows what regex is. Unless there is some reason the average millennial was actually exposed to them and forced to understand them?

        As for being doubtful that anyone could understand them aside from a millennial, I assume you’re being hyperbolic? Sort of sounds like “Kids these days can never learn what I learned!” (I’m teasing).

        Anyway I’m in agreement with you. This thread did remind me of a pretty neat project that, while still requiring domain knowledge, could save some time and be a good learning tool without being as fallible of a crutch as an LLM.

        Have not tried it, and am not an experienced developer, so I am curious to your thoughts/criticisms: https://github.com/pemistahl/grex

        • otacon239@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          9 days ago

          Yeah, I am exaggerating a bit, but I’ve not met anyone under the age of 25 that’s even remotely interested in putting in the effort to learn (anecdotal, I’m aware). Many have expressed wanting to learn, but then they never follow up when I try and pursue teaching anything.

          And I’m not necessarily saying that the average person already understands them, but someone from our generation will probably pick them up far more quickly then your average Gen Z/Gen A.

          • mearce@programming.dev
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            8 days ago

            Maybe what you’re claiming is true, I don’t know whether is ‘probable’.

            I poked fun at this before, but I don’t think it came across. If I’m not mistaken, millennials were the subject of a lot of boomer complaints about “kids these days”, being called lazy or entitled etc…

            Maybe zoomers are dumber, maybe they’re full of microplastics and entitlement. Or maybe this thread is an example of the “chastise the next generation” history repeating. One generation is lumped together and shat on by older generations, some of which then make similar claims about the next generation(s) all backed up with nothing but anecdotes and confirmation bias.

            I’m not trying to take dig at you, but I do want to highlight the similarities between claims like these and when a boomer might’ve said “I know a millennial who spends more on coffee than I would, so millennials are bad with their money. Millennials, who are bad with their money, cant afford houses. Yet they act entitled to homeownership, and so, they are lazy.” It’s a claim that assumes something about the integrity and intelligence of a swath of people and ignores the systemic issues that made homeownership hard for many millennials compared to past generations.

            Again, maybe you are right, I do not know. I don’t think, though, that boomer rhetoric that shat on millennials as a whole was particularly accurate or productive.

            • otacon239@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              8 days ago

              I certainly don’t blame them for these pitfalls I don’t think it’s laziness. It’s 100% a lack of education. Teachers have all but given up trying to get kids to pay attention in class. It’s become a snowball effect.

              When I was in school, most of my classmates took it seriously and took much of the education at face value. And almost all of my classmates are people that could handle the full Office suite.

              Now it seems every kid thinks they already know computers because they started with an iPad at the age of 4, but what they don’t realize is phones and tablets are the equivalent to toys.

              You don’t ever actually learn how to use a phone. Just individual apps. People don’t even really browse the internet blindly anymore.

              I think it’s probably the difference that a lot of boomers probably saw with cars in the 2000s-2010s. It used to be everyone had a rough idea of how a car worked and most people could learn in a year or two how to do basic stuff.

              Now it’s all a closed magic box requiring a full technical degree. Phones fell the same. Its a magic box that they never had the opportunity to wonder how it worked.

    • kazaika@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      9 days ago

      … modern … Object oriented

      wat?

      Bro that shits like 30 years old and most langs released after lets say 2010 have put that stuff in the backseat for backwards compatibility. Anyway I get your point

      operate any arbitrary interface

      Dont believe it. Behold the shittyness of modern UI

    • Emerald@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      9 days ago

      Understand and operate any arbitrary interface without having to have it explained to me by rote

      Omg, this all the way. I’m in a class for learning AWS stuff and its crazy the amount of people who suddenly can’t do anything when one button is on a different screen than the instructions told them it was. Like come on, use some basic thinking skills.

      Another infuriating situation was having to do a class on Microsoft Office. It was infuriating because it was incredibly basic stuff. I’ve never used Outlook before, but I completed each task they asked of me in like 5 seconds because I have a basic understanding of how software works.

    • Chris@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      9 days ago

      Why would you write machine code outside of uni! Assembly exists for a reason?

    • Emerald@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      9 days ago

      Remember a fairly broad swath of special character altcodes

      I use the compose key. When you message with me, you are sure to receive proper dashes and real ellipsis.

      Well, unless I happen to be using my phone or another computer at the time.

      • doctordevice@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        9 days ago

        Hold on — why can’t you do proper ellipses and dashes on your phone? I don’t understand…

        This message brought to you by Android.

        • Emerald@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          8 days ago

          Well there is no em dash or en dash key on the mobile keyboard. And there isn’t a … key either.

          • doctordevice@lemmy.ca
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            8 days ago

            I typed my comment above on my mobile keyboard. I’m just using the standard Google keyboard on my Pixel, nothing fancy. Em and en dash are available by holding on the hyphen, and the ellipsis is available by holding on the period (annoyingly, only when on the numbers/symbols page).

  • Chloé 🥕@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    60
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    9 days ago

    in today’s edition of “why are the kids I raised so damn incompetent?”

    i long for a day where people understand that it’s not the ipad kid’s fault they were given a tablet at age 2

  • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    60
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    9 days ago

    Let me guess: they’re talking about Millennials, and are entirely forgetting about Gen X once again.

    • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      ·
      9 days ago

      I figured they were talking about the Oregon Trail generation. It’s made up of the folks who were old enough and young enough to play the game in schools and spans across parts of X and millennials.

    • blitzen@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      9 days ago

      Probably. But if I’m being generous, we’re really only talking about younger X and older millennials.

    • SuperNovaStar@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      9 days ago

      Honestly? Why do we let people who have no clue what’s actually going on decide the generations?

      Oregon Trail generation sounds great.

      I’m in the Minecraft generation.

      Don’t know what the next generation would want to be called, but they’re the iPad kids for sure.

    • TwanHE@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      8 days ago

      Or those of us from Gen Z that where born just at the cutoff and got tech acces at a way to young age.

  • tantalizer@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    51
    ·
    9 days ago

    The amount of my students that wrote the whole email in the subject line is crazy. At first I thought it was a mistake or something. But there are sooo many…

    They also don’t know what a file browser/explorer is. As soon as the download notification is gone, the file doesn’t exist anymore.

    Giving files proper names? Unheard of!

  • TommySoda@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    38
    ·
    9 days ago

    We got a new kid around 19 working at our office for processing data and I hate how true this is. The amount of times I’ve had to say “No, you have to double click to open folders” is entirely too many. Either that or “You have to actually right click on the icon you want to copy you can’t just click anywhere on the screen.”

    • krashmo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      21
      ·
      9 days ago

      Fuck me I’m not ready for that. You expect it from the old people but I might have to leave the room if a young person asked me something like that.

      • Thwompthwomp@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        9 days ago

        I teach undergrads, and every year basic computer skills get worse and worse. I guess it’s not entirely their fault, but things like just asking them to save a file to their computer is insanely difficult. Lots of universities are starting to get task forces to figure out how to teach (or where to teach rather) basic digital skills, it it’s all going to hit the workforce really soon en masse.

        • devfuuu@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          9 days ago

          Let it all implode. I’m sure the companies will thrive with this reality with the bonus of AI slop on top that all these people will be using and putting in all system across our society.

      • taxiiiii@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        edit-2
        9 days ago

        I mean, I know millennials who don’t own a computer. Just phones. They got young kids. Not sure if those are alpha at this point or whatever, but how are they supposed to learn it if they got nowhere to practice?

        Quite a few working class kids and teens grow up like this.

    • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      9 days ago

      The amount of times I’ve had to say “No, you have to double click to open folders”

      That’s a real problem when you’re used to Kde and have to use a windows machine.

      (Why is this damn thing so slow ? Oooh, right, double click)

      • dual_sport_dork 🐧🗡️@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        9 days ago

        You can absolutely configure Windows to open folders – and all other shortcuts – with a single click, and IIRC one of the knocks against Windows ME was that this was the default option. And it was godawful, along with the “click” noise it made on navigation. (I think it was WinME. I’ve probably suppressed the memory, and rightly so.)

        But the long and short of it is if you want consistency between your UI’s in that regard you can indeed have it.

        • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          9 days ago

          I think I tried it years ago. But it didn’t really work with the windows ui for some reason. Nowadays I don’t use it often enough to bother personalising it.

        • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          edit-2
          9 days ago

          It is in the latest versions but it’s very recent. The default has always been single click. They changed it because of windows users.

    • myrak@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      9 days ago

      Absolutely. At 10yo I’ve tried my best to teach my kid video editing and basic computer use. A bit ago I made her network two computers using chatGPT as a guide. So freaking proud of her.

      Thinking of forcing her to do something new. Does Roblox run on Linux?

      • Grass@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        13
        ·
        9 days ago

        roblax is extremely absolutely vile, manipulative, and not a safe place for anyone let alone children. it’s genuinely worse than 4chan for some time now.

        • constantturtleaction@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          9 days ago

          What makes you say this? The parental controls are pretty good. Just don’t give access to age range stuff that you feel the kid isn’t ready for. And turn off the chat. The only thing that bothers me is some of the annoying sounds some of the experiences use.

          • Grass@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            9 days ago

            I’ve been told some pretty fucked up shit slips through the cracks like ‘holocaust simulator’ or ‘beating pregnant women’ or assorted bizarre block people sex dungeon stuff, then the literal real money gambling paired with fomo, child labour exploitation through game development hopes and dreams combined with extremely exploitative advertisement options.

            Maybe parents from exactly the correct generation can handle the parental controls but the parents I know IRL gave their kids free reign and the ones that cut it off after seeing soulless violent content had a hard time with the kids being straight up addicted. Kid’s shouldn’t even be on online stuff since the average parent has no idea how to use anything other than an iphone and even that they barely know shit.

            Back in my day we played reader rabbit and math blaster off of five and a quarter floppies

      • MehBlah@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        9 days ago

        These days roblox barely runs on windows. Now in order for it to update it needs local admin privileges. So no more roblox.

      • Emerald@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        9 days ago

        I made her network two computers

        How did she do it? Just plug a crossover cable into both of them?

  • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    30
    ·
    edit-2
    9 days ago

    Me: Behold!

    *quickly presses Control+V

    Classmate: Woah! How did you do that??!!!

    True story but as a millennial teaching another millennial in college.

  • burgerpocalyse@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    28
    ·
    edit-2
    8 days ago

    this is less a problem of ‘people are stupid’ and more ‘educational institutions have been dismantled over the last several decades and large numbers of people are pushed through school despite being functionally illiterate, if they graduate at all’

    • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      8 days ago

      It’s not just dismantling of education. It’s the corporate creep into the education system from companies like Microsoft, Google and Apple. They want people get locked into their systems. So they start them young. Instead of learning basic os agnostic computer skills, kids at school are locked into cloud dependent apps.

    • shortrounddev@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      8 days ago

      No it’s just that Zoomers only use touchscreen, which are vastly simplified devices compared to a desktop computer

    • ulterno@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      8 days ago

      Hey, I was never taught how to rotate a PDF.

      I just looked for the button in the viewer.

      Sometimes, I just rotate the screen instead.

    • kryllic@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      8 days ago

      Personally I’d blame parents more than the schools, especially in America. Parent involvement is nearing all-time lows and it seems a lot of them are expecting all learning to be done outside the home. I learned more about computers from my dad than any class or teacher.

  • AWittyUsername@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    20
    ·
    8 days ago

    We grew up in an analog childhood, but digital adulthood.

    We’ve been at the cusp of all the changes, we probably had to boot into Ms DOS and navigate to the A:// drive to play whatever was on the floppy disk with a whopping 1.44mb.

    Now you download almost instantly to your phone/tablet. The internet as we knew it is mostly dead, everywhere is a walled garden of shit.