I get what you're saying meow, but I think that there are two very different things being discussed in the article:-

1. a lack of technical ability (eg: not understanding that the computer overheating and running very slowly are likely to be linked, and signals that these are symptoms of something being wrong, such as a virus); and

2. an attitude issue (eg: not checking the cable is in before wailing "the interwebs have died" or clicking "ok" before reading the pop up box or downloading things without sussing out whether they're legitimate and non-virusy or ... lots of things ...).

Regarding the first category, I would reiterate my point about computers being one of a large number of things that we use day by day, and don't necessarily have a good operating understanding about. And that I personally don't have a problem with that. Over the past 15 years, I have intended to learn how to sew (to make basic garments), do basic (very basic) mechanics, computer programming (as my current ability is Logowriter and Basic before it was even Qbasic), photography, human movement, genetics (understanding - not fiddling), carpentry (just to be able to fix stuff) and more. But there just isn't enough hours in the day or dollars in the bank - or space in my head! So I try to get better at things I enjoy writing, pottery, cooking, etc.

Regarding the second - this is a problem. A big problem. But I don't think it has anything to do with computers - or children. It's people in an "instant" age.

Quite seriously, I put this sort of thing down in the same category as:-

  • someone saying a toy is broken without checking if there's batteries, something stuck in the wheels, etc.
  • someone standing at the pantry / fridge / etc moaning that there's nothing to eat simply because there's nothing they can pull out and put in their mouth, which looks appetising at that precise second.
  • someone complaining that they have nothing to wear, when they quite clearly do (it just perhaps is not new, not sufficiently "trendy" for them that day, or it's still on the floor dirty from two weeks ago).
  • someone saying they're bored and expecting someone else to stop what they're doing and entertain them, instead of going for a walk, picking up a book, or doing any one of a million things that they could do if they chose to.
  • someone saying, "it's not here" when all they've done to find it so far is open their eyes and hope it would miraculously materialise in their hand.
  • someone saying "I've never got any money" because they keep on spending it on things that they don't actually need.
  • etc ... I'm pretty sure we could all make an impressive list from our own observations of the human race.

So those sorts of things - call them human, impatient, lazy, idiotic, whatever - are not things which I think have anything to do with computers. They're attitude issues.

A friend of mine works for a bank, another for an electricity company, another in a law firm, and one thing I hear over and over and over again from them (in various levels of decibels, depending on how angry they are!) is that customers and clients are constantly calling asking questions about things which they've been sent letter about, but they clearly have not read them. I don't think that means that the customers/clients necessarily don't know about banking, money, electricity or the law - but rather that they've got their mail, seen it's not a bill - it's "just" a letter or a pamphlet - and they've chucked it straight into the bin, and then later had a question because something has changed or happened or whatever - and they're peeved and are on the phone all angry at my friends ... they should have read the letter, and then they would have known - and could possibly have done something about it.

So, yeah, I see those two things really differently.