I need to tell someone this.

Okay so I've been watching a bunch of those kids react things, and every time it's a video about old technology from the 80s or 90s people go on a rant about how they have lost faith in this generation. For fucks sake of course they don't know how to use a walkman, they're like 8 years old! At most like 12 - 13... People have some trouble using over cumbersome things from the generation before and see them as silly or impractical because THEY ARE. Yes you knew how to use it, that's because you grew up with it. I mean these kids sometimes know more about their phones than you do, because they grew up with it!

Blaargh.. Rant over, but I'm sorry I just needed to tell someone.-.-

true, people know how to use stuff the grow up with more then people that don't

...sorry for dubble post but i don't like that message number..>_> so um..someithng useful in this...um...no need for your sorry?

I saw a "react" video with kids failing at rotary phones. ROTARY PHONES AREN'T HARD TO FIGURE OUT!

No, I did not grow up with rotary phones. I grew up with buttons. Like actual, physical "beep boop" buttons. No fnacy touch screens. Crazy right?

I also saw this genuinely hilarious video of old people playing GTA V. All but one thoroughly enjoyed it.

How are they supposed to magically know how to use a rotary phone with no help? Heck I'm not sure I know how to use one. =S

You have to remember these kids are really young, and aren't given ANY direction into how to use the stuff they're told to use.

You pick a number and then you...ROTATE it. Because it's...you know... a rotary phone.

Well duhh, rotate it in what fashion though? Like a combination lock maybe? As in over then back then over again, or just spin one way to get a number, then all the way around again to the next number and etc?...

I'm telling you even someone of that time if they'd never used a rotary phone they'd have NO IDEA how to use it, no context, no direction. How about I give someone from the early ninetys some bit of tech 20 years older than them, do you think they wouldn't find it super silly and difficult to use?

I think in fairness @squishypon3 the 'react' vids are a bit of revenge for oldies.... For example my parents, they used to be very tech savvy, always up to date with new gear, we were one of the first families in my area with dial up internet for example.

Thing is tough, they're now both retired and they've fallen out of touch with the new kit completely. this kind of thing is to make them feel better about that haha.

What worries me is that how easy it was for them to lose their tech ability... Makes me wonder what new fangled tech will prove too much for me? Maybe neural interfaces... All the kids will be creating worlds with their minds having grown up with it and I'll be struggling to open a menu... Then I can laugh at the kids when they're presented with the archaic notion of a keyboard and mouse haha.

Basic trial and error will tell you.

Hehe, I think it's possible to stay in touch if you try to, just continue to be open minded about technology, keep watching those awesome new tech demos, e3, whatever. =)

Trial and error requires by definition error, which comes with a struggle. ;P

There's two things going on here:

1: it terrifies a lot of people (Including me) that the stuff we grew up with is ancient history to kids.

2: it shows just how far user friendlyness has come. A kid of 2 can, with a handful of instructions, figure out how an Ipad works. But give these kids a Walkman and they're confused because it requires extra stuff and non-obvious actions.

Sorru to bring this back, but reason I haven't lost faith in this generation. =)

I probably shouldn't mention that facebook post some teen made that said "got a watch evn tho I cant tell the time".

People are butts. Hell, people probably connected with each other -less- before, because you were stuck with whoever lived in your local area, aside from maybe the odd pen-pal you met travelling and heard from every other month.

I disagree, i connect with people that share my interests even though they're halfway around the world. Never met a person who liked Stargate in person.

FTFY

Dude, that was the point I was making.
It's easier nowadays to meet people from across the world with similar interests to you.

Very true. It is easier to make what feels like more real connections over the internet, because they are more real and they are much more likeminded than anyone you meet locally because interests are few and far between.

Idea: Instead of current nationalities, we all form world boundaries with similar interests, gridded in a hexagonal pattern, where we share borders with people with similar interests but 1-2 different interests. Because skin color and origin, matter a lot less than shared interests. In comparison, sometimes I like European and Russian guys, more than my own parents.