The lack of computer literacy and rotting of it to dumb it down for the brain rotten ipad kids ... did i just sound old? im just 35 xD
It is a serious concern for mine for the humans. My love Noctalon agrees with me.
Nightfox wrote to mary4 <=-
I've had the same thought.. When I was growing up, it was common
wisdom that computers & related technology are here to stay, so it's
odd to me that there seems to be a bit of computer illiteracy with some younger people these days. If anything, I thought people of newer generations would be more computer literate than people in the past.
The lack of computer literacy and rotting of it to dumb it down for the brain rotten ipad kids ... did i just sound old? im just 35 xD
RetroSwim wrote to mary4 <=-
Or to put it another way: The wonder and intrigue we had as youngsters, with computers in their own right, will be difficult to inspire going forward. And that makes me sad.
Setting IRQs and ports on peripherals using DIP switches, getting itInternal modems were not fun.
all right, flipping a big red switch, watching the memory test, then
the longest of pauses, a beep - and a C: prompt.
Internal modems were not fun.
Setting up comports.Internal modems were not fun.
Why do you say that? They were very easy to configure and they didn't use any
extra power outlets. At one point, I had 2 internal modems for my 2 phone lines.
The lack of computer literacy and rotting of it to dumb it down for t brain rotten ipad kids ... did i just sound old? im just 35 xD
I'm of two minds about it.
On one hand, I think it's a shitty idea to gatekeep the benefits of technology behind some kind of arbitrary skill check. For the longest time, effectively using computers was walled behind knowledge of
technical concepts like directories and files. The idea to abstract all that away when iOS and Android rose to prominence was genius. Computing became task- and outcome-focussed, rather than wrangling with the
machine. This is all a "Good Thing TM".
On the other hand, because computers are ubiquitous and accessible to
all, they're just a part of the furniture now, and it's hard to get
young people excited and interested in computers beyond using them as a tool to achieve a task or goal.
Or to put it another way: The wonder and intrigue we had as youngsters, with computers in their own right, will be difficult to inspire going forward. And that makes me sad.
Cheers,
Setting IRQs and ports on peripherals using DIP switches, getting itInternal modems were not fun.
all right, flipping a big red switch, watching the memory test, then
the longest of pauses, a beep - and a C: prompt.
Matthew Munson wrote to Poindexter Fortran <=-
Internal modems were not fun.
Matthew Munson wrote to Exodus <=-
On 4/19/2026 4:06 PM, Exodus wrote to Matthew Munson:
Why do you say that? They were very easy to configure and they didn't use an
y
extra power outlets. At one point, I had 2 internal modems for my 2 phone lines.
Setting up comports.
The thing is, Directories and Files still exist. iOS and Android abstract them away and obscure what is going on underneath. DOS was raw, you dealt with the system as it actually was. With Windows 11, you have a folder hierarchy which doesn't actually represent how the files are stored.
Internal modems were not fun.
Perceptions change. I remember not wanting to use an internal on the BBS because if the modem hung you'd need to reboot the WHOLE COMPUTER to reset it.
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