esperent 19 hours ago

Those are all very specific technical IT related skills, if the next generation doesn't know how to do those things, it's because they don't need to. Not because they can't learn.

2
CM30 17 hours ago

Except both corporations and academia require them, and it's likely you'll need them at some point in your everyday life too. You can't run many types of business on tablets and smartphones alone.

esperent 15 hours ago

> Except both corporations and academia require them

And so the people who are aiming to go into that kind of work will learn these skills.

Academia is a tiny proportion of people. "Business" is larger but I think you might be surprised by just how much of business you can do on a phone or tablet these days, with all the files shared and linked between chats and channels rather than saved in the traditional sense.

As a somewhat related example, I've finally caved into to following all the marketing staff I hire and started using Canva. The only time you now need to "save a picture" is... never. You just hit share and send the file directly into the WhatsApp chat with the local print shop.

fzeroracer 49 minutes ago

> Academia is a tiny proportion of people. "Business" is larger but I think you might be surprised by just how much of business you can do on a phone or tablet these days, with all the files shared and linked between chats and channels rather than saved in the traditional sense.

And this is exactly what is meant by generational skill atrophy. You no longer own your own files or manage your own data, it's all handled in cloud solutions outside of your control, on devices you barely understand how they work and in channels controlled by companies looking to earn a profit.

When any of those links break, you are suddenly non-functional. You can no longer access your files, you can no longer work on your device. This skill atrophy includes the ability to correctly analyze and debug problems with your devices or workflow in question.

Phanteaume 16 hours ago

...And the businessman in me tells me there will be a market for ever simpler business tools, because computer-illiterate people will still want to do business.

satanfirst 17 hours ago

Yes, but they weren't field specific from the rise of the PC to the iPhone. The next life skill, homeEc skill, public forum, etc meant the average kid or middle class adult was being judged on whether they were working on these skills.