1/ Helping my parents with computer problems is absolutely eye-opening for understanding the digital divide
2/ There is so much tacit knowledge still required about how computers and software works. If you don’t know it, it’s behavior is baffling
3/ There’s all these layers of abstractions just in using a simple GUI interface. Buttons representing actions, icons representing places, formatting representing links, menus representing options. So little is self-explanatory
4/ If you don’t understand how files and folders can be infinitely nested, for ex, file systems are scary. One click can delete thousands of files. This is terrifying
5/ But defaulting to saving everything is just as bad. Rapid accumulation of files everywhere, many of unknown nature, origin, importance, can become a debilitating psychological barrier
6/ Problems and errors are impsssible to trace because all the wiring is hidden. Things seem to happen for no reason, while the thing you want to achieve is needlessly complicated
7/ I think this is a big cause of PC market contracting and mobile market expanding. Personal computers are still optimized for technically sophisticated
8/ I’m beginning to think to expand market for digital productivity, I’m going to need to invest in basic digital literacy. Problem also exists on opposite end, young digital natives having no idea how to create complex things & fix problems
9/ Where do I send ppl who want to use digital task managers, digital notetaking apps, and social media tools but don’t know how to copy and paste?
