All through their lives, I’ve done it for them. Set-up new hardware, installed new software and acted as in-house technician whenever things went wrong. As a result, I have a family of digital illiterates.

My little cousin falls EXACTLY into the category of witless computer-using but computer-illiterate teenagers.

I remember one incident about a year ago. I got back from Australia and my mom asked if I could pick up his computer from the local tech repair shop that we use for the computers at my dad's company. They're great guys, they have a small business that survived the recession, and we give them boatloads of money and I'm okay with it because I don't have to deal with it.

So I asked what happened. She explains that they've taken it to the shop at least 8 times in the last year when it breaks or whatever and he's a 14 year old boy and therefore an idiot. I asked what they had done to attempt to solve the problem. Her answer was: take it to the repair shop. That is not a solution to the problem. That is the solution to the problem that was created by the problem. The problem is the irresponsible actions of my cousin. Manga boards, downloading and unzipping and installing programs he doesn't anything about, and downloading porn. Yes. A 14 year old in 2012 downloaded porn.

I was angry. They were enabling him. They were spending money (not really an issue but still) to let him keep repeating the same thing. I wasn't raised like that. When I virus'd my computer (my dad's old windows 95 machine) I didn't get to use it until I fixed it. I had to sneak on my dad's computer when he wasn't using it to alta vista how to fix it. So I was bitter...and jealous..and angry.

Fast forward 4 whole weeks. The computer is broken again. This time I get it. I look through the entire thing, forcing to reboot every 3 minutes because of how loaded up with shit it is. That's how I found out about the manga boards, the IE8 he was using (granted he was running xp but still), the desktop full of .zips and .exes named things like "adsdsdf.zip" and "hotyoung.exe."

So I grabbed a windows disc, reinstalled, opened the actual computer up, blew out the 3 inches of dust and grime, reseated everything, good as new. Installed Google Chrome with some extensions (namely WOT with a popup every time you try to go to a "red" site). Then I bookmarked pornhub.com for him. Because fucking hell, don't fucking download porn you goof. What are you going to do? Watch it again? Seriously? You aren't. You're going to download new porn the next time.

Then googled and printed out some easy to understand, step by step instructions on how to reinstall. And when I gave it back to him I told him exactly what the issues were. Exactly what sites were causing what. Exactly how harmful installing shit could be. Gave him a nice lecture on privacy that reminded me way too much of the one my dad gave me when I was 14. I got him on codeacademy ( if he's going to spend 8 hours after school on the computer, make it worthwhile). Then I told him that the next time the computer broke, he would have to fix it. I pointed out the printout and disc, which I had thoroughly duct taped to the side of the computer for safe keeping, and left.

Fast forward two whole months. I felt like I might have actually made a difference. I was on top of the world (not really...I didn't think about it much) but I felt like I had influenced someone for the better. Maybe he would get interested in programming. Maybe he would build something awesome. Maybe he would actually have a passion for something besides fapping. MAYBE HE WOULD BE THE NEXT STEVE JOBS!!!

Nope. Apparently the computer "broke", he decided not to tell us or reinstall, somehow decided it was a problem with his video card, removed the video card, forgot about said video card under a pile of clothes, and destroyed said video card.

We haven't fixed it.

OR NOT

I'm a rarity. I've forgotten more about cars than most people will ever know. I've done SMT rework on circuit boards. I've programmed in three languages, written a webpage or two, installed a garbage disposal and built shelves from lumber. I'm a long goddamn way from a "Renaissance man" or "polymath" but I have a basic, passable understanding of the world around me.

I am not an expert in all things. I have a workable expertise in all things that impact my life such that I feel confident enough to know what I can take on and what I can't, to know who can help me with my problems and who can't. That, to me, seems like the essence of pragmatism. I learned it from my father, my wife learned it from her father, and we will no doubt instill it in our daughter. It doesn't mean I can code apps, it doesn't mean I can reprogram the ECM on my car (the bike is another matter), and it doesn't mean I represent myself in courts of law but it means those that can do those things neither laugh at me nor take advantage of me.

I am not the people listed in this article. Most people aren't.

There are those who are taken advantage of for their ignorance. There always have been. There always will be. Those with a narrow expertise tend to apply it to their band of expertise. Here we have an IT person lamenting the fact that people no longer know how to set IRQs and DMAs that happens to be perfectly cool with the idea that his son will never need to learn to drive because Google will do it for him. No surprise, his attitude towards cars is:

I’ve owned a car for most of my adult life and they’re a mystery to me.

(despite quoting Cory Doctorow: "There are no cars, only computers we sit in.")

Unfortunately for the dyed-in-the-wool nerds, there is less configuration necessary on computers than there used to be, and in those rare instances where you need to step outside the box, the expertise necessary is far, far greater. What this means is that for most people, the operating systems he celebrates (W7 and OSX) "just work" and for those that it doesn't, their illiteracy is that much more evident.

Idiots will be idiots. Sunrise, sunset. "Don't be one" is always the truth. Does it require a massive call to action? No. By the author's own admission, the issues discussed would probably fill a 3-hour seminar (good friend of mine has a nice side business doing exactly this at senior centers). For those who haven't picked up the basics, but want to, the basics are picked up with predictable ease. For those who haven't picked up the basics but can't be bothered, you'll get what you deserve.

My mother in law still calls her browser "the Mozilla" and in order to prevent her from connecting via Compuserve dialup I had to put in a wireless router. But I taught that woman to use Pro Tools because it was the best solution to a problem she had. She learns what she needs to learn.

I ain't worried in the slightest, and neither should you be.

Isn't this part of a much wider problem? Aren't we teaching our children to be lazy and entitled? Why should they bother working stuff out when someone can do it for them?

I wholeheartedly agree with the authors premise that many young people don't know much about computers beyond how to use day to day applications but I think there is a disturbing element that he didn't cover.

Ninety Five percent of the problems any computer user faces is about five google searches and twenty or so webpages worth of skimming away from being solved. The solution is probably presented with screenshots and a step by step breakdown. Almost everyone has an extra screen in their pocket with which to find this information if the problem is "can't connect to the internet." As long as the user can follow directions they don't need understand the finer details of what they are doing or why they are doing it, they just need to do it. The more you just do it the more you end up knowing about computers.

My mom couldn't upgrade her RAM about five years ago. After visiting her and seeing how slow her computer was I wrote down her model number and had a RAM upgrade shipped to her house. She refused to put it in, waiting a year until I came back for a visit to have me install it. About two years ago she bought a decent laptop and took a laptop repair and maintenance class. The class sounded pretty amazing; they taught a woman who couldn't replace her desktop ram how to replace screens, keyboard, RAM and every other part that wasn't soldered in. She thinks that she could probably diagnose, find the parts for and replace any part on her laptop that isn't soldered in now. Doesn't really relate to the kids part of the story but it shows how a low functioning user can change if they put a bit of effort into it.

This was frustrating to read.

I believe computers should be taught in school. Like, what a better way to get rid of the old hardware than to pass it on to students to learn off of!

I used to go to this middle school, where you could chose an elective or something similar, and one of the classes was very interesting. I can't really remember what the class was, but it was taught by a man who had stations set up all over this giant classroom. There was a robotics module, which you could do for half of the semester, a rocketry module, botany. All very interesting little modules that could do and get a grade for, while learning about the world, and how different technologies tie together. There were a lot of module, and I only did a few. I don't recall a computer systems module, though. Would have been a nice addition to my hobby and love for computers.

Now, here I am encouraging people to learn more about computers! I have a friend who just graduated with her bachelors degree, and she's thinking about going back to school. I told her she should (we need women in I.T.); she could make more money than being a social worker, her specialty. I find her pretty cool because she's willing to accept new concepts and learn more about computers, which I'm more than happy to share.

Hindsight is 20/20, though... So I guess can't complain: I make my money off of people who don't know how to use computers. It's my profession, and hobby.

I saw this on the front page too and thanks to Hubski Discover, saw that it had already been posted!

I am a little pessimistic about the solution. The only way people will change is if they understand the necessary evil of having to spend quality time learning something. A lot of people don't enjoy that because frankly, the general public is lazy. Is this a broad generalization? Possibly. But from what I've seen through the lens of a college student is that too many people want to be fed baby food so that they can continue being distracted through Facebook, the Chive, and other "social" avenues.