• endless_nameless@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I used to teach programming to young kids (like 8-12) as a summer job and never had a single kid complain about the difficulty or fail to learn. This was about a decade ago.

    I recently tried teaching my cousin (9) using the same curriculum and it was nearly impossible. He didn’t know how to turn his computer on or off and he didn’t know what a file was or what “text” means. I basically had to root his Chromebook to install a competent text editor on it. Then every time the “computer” booted it said something like “press G to revert” in huge text for like a minute straight and I told him never to press it. Took like 2 hours to put the computer in a state where you could code on it, and next session after that it was reset. I was like “what happened to the computer?” and he said “it said to press G so I did”

    Kids are fucked bro. I blame Google, Apple, and Microsoft for intentionally designing their software to prevent you from learning how computers work or how to use them. They don’t want you developing any transferrable skills whatsoever. You used to learn all about computers just by using them and it was impossible not to…

    • RaphaelSchmitz@feddit.org
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      19 hours ago

      OK that “press G” prompt is horrible, though.

      We know the younger generations are somewhat cooked, and that, wouldn’t trust a boomer or GenXer with that either. Even for a millennial that’s horrible UX.

      • endless_nameless@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        It’s designed to trick people. It displays the message for 30 seconds or a full minute (don’t remember) every single time it boots. There is no indication that there is a timer running. If there’s a way to skip it and/or disable it, it isn’t not apparent.

        Ok get this: Putting the computer into a state where it will so graciously allow you to install a text editor also requires completely wiping all data on it. Good thing my cousin didn’t know that you could even save data to a computer in the first place! Pressing G to revert it also completely wipes it. Imagine working on something for a week before pushing it to some remote git repo and accidentally hitting that.

        They are completely, intentionally fucking up the minds of children to make them dependent for life. We need a new round of Nuremberg trials for big tech.

    • madmantis24@lemmy.wtf
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      1 day ago

      This has been a thorn in my side at least as far back as Windows 8, and the LLM craze has only thrown jet fuel on the damn fire

      EDIT: I don’t have to deal with kids that much but I’ve noticed that it’s wrapped around to affecting older adults and that’s maybe worse since they’re the same generation as the politicians making decisions for all of us involving technology