Something I’ve noticed as an elder millennial working in IT is that there’s an assumption by older generations that because zoomers have grown up with smartphones that they’ll automatically be proficient with tech as a whole, but it’s not correct in my experience and I really think it’s doing them a disservice. They’re better than anyone else I’ve met at navigating apps/mobile UI and can be super efficient working that way but tend to struggle as much as boomers with more traditional computers, because it’s simply not what they grew up with and no one really sat them down to formally teach them. We’re definitely going to see more of the “appification” of common office tools and programs as the zoomers and Generation Alpha progress in their careers and start outnumbering the older generations in the workplace in my opinion. If AI hasn’t put us all out of a job by then anyway.
There is another article I read where colleges had to teach Computer Science majors basic computer concepts like folders because the students relied on search for everything.
It would be like how almost everyone knew how to work on their own car in the 40’s and 50’s because you needed to in order to get the car to run. Nowadays, you don’t need that information to drive a car.
I think your car metaphor is even more apt than you meant it, as over time both car manufacturers and mobile platforms have gotten more and more hostile to users actually being able to do maintenance or self service.
That’s true, but there’s always a way. For instance clones of the John Deere factory service tool and pirated software is available on AliExpress for less than a thousand dollars. For more common manufacturers there’s tools for doing all kinds of stuff.
The more popular the platform, the more prevalent the problem, and the more expensive the OEM makes it are all determining factors as to the availability of aftermarket tools and repairs.
If something costs a million people one thousand dollars to fix then a third party can afford a couple of full time engineers to come up with a fix that costs five hundred.
I’ve personally made my own physical tools for working on cars when a factory special tool is called for.
Never underestimate a determined person with a welder and a grinder.
there’s an assumption by older generations that because zoomers have grown up with smartphones that they’ll automatically be proficient with tech as a whole
That’s like thinking someone knows how to cook because they can order at McDonalds.
It’s an absurd premise, but it’s true! I teach HS computer science and always take time to teach them basic skills about Excel — like what it’s even capable of.
That’s great. Teaching them what it is capable of opens new vistas (not that Vista) and that there are lots of possibilities with other software as well. Not a MS fan at all but Excel is powerful and the point comes through regardless of the platform.
It seems 1990-2010 was the golden age for picking computers up “on the fly”.
Scanners are basically (and most of the time literally) printers. And printers are of the devil.
I’m not Gen Z btw, I’m on the tail end of Gen X and an IT professional of twenty years.
It’s like they figured out printer firmware/GUI in 1981 and then have never touched it again. They’re competing with the TI-83 in terms of longevity at this point.
I mean yeah, printers really try to behave like somewhat sophisticated typewriters in a way. There are so many things that I suppose used to make sense early on but that really should have been refactored again and again over time. But since the technology is so insanely widespread and backward compatibility being a must-have… tech debt is a bitch.
And that’s why IT people hate printers.
The scanner part is the only reason why I haven’t smashed that damn printer yet… I hate printers so much, I’d rather almost pay for a print service that just ships the printed documents to me on the next day.
Yeah, I really like my 3D printers even though they can be pretty fiddly as well.
But paper printers man, not even once.
I just had to replace the heat cartridge and thermister on my hot end. The print I had going when they failed was 35/37 hours in.
I still have massive affection for my 3D printer, but the HP inkjet printer my wife bought during the early days of Covid is my mortal enemy.
Counter point: Nobody knows how to operate printers and scanners because they are not build by people that are tech literate.
Give a printer or scanner a proper UI using the design principles that modern apps use and see how easy newer generations pick things up
Almost right. Printers and scanners were not built by people. They are an independent life form that just happens to emulate office equipment for their own benefit. They have enabled parasitic entities such as Canon and HP to thrive alongside them, but since there is no ‘design’ involved, they will never really develop the same kind of interfaces we expect from modern UX labs.
It’s also the reason any sane person keeps a loaded gun nearby whenever interacting with them, just in case they make any unusual noises.
I am convinced that printer companies make their products as esoteric and intimidating to the average person as possible on purpose so that they can sell expensive servicing packages to businesses.
Id wager that they dont put too much money into R&D and just pay one guy to port over the same code from their last last last generation printer to the new one. Over time its become an unrecognizable mess that is just hacked into working and no one ever takes a look under the hood. Their main market is the ink anyways, so making the printer good at what it does is an afterthought
This. The core principle of intuitive UI is reusing ui elements that are familiar. That’s the reason every elevator has buttons, and that’s why you can intuitively operate every elevator you encounter.
The problem is that not everyone is familiar with the same things. Many people of older generations (those that have stopped keeping up with technology) are used to buttons, that’s why a blue text doesn’t immediately mean clickable to them.
On the other hand there’s no right click on phones so younger generations that are familiar with phone UIs may not immediately come to the conclusion that there’s more options when pressing the other mouse button on a desktop computer.
There are printer that has their own app or support apps implementing the protocols so you can print via bluetooth for example. The tricky part comes from 1. cost 2. when you do the scan©. The fancier printer that comes with a tablet attached to it doesn’t do “more” compare to the cheaper traditional layout version that can also connect to computer/apps.
Then when you do the scan and copy, it’s the knowledge which tray does the feed and which mode to set the machine to operate, which does require some manual reading or guidance. But it’s not hard to figure out as well.
Hardly a Gen-z specific issue. Office printer/scanners have always been confusing.
as a old timer I feel that it’s not that “complex” if you are allowed to experiment without someone looking at you with disappointment. Like there was one time I was trying to figure out how to do double side copying on a machine I never used before, the HR come by and just say you do this print one side and then shuffle the paper into the feeder to print the other side. I tell her that the machine can do double side copying/scanning cause it’s similar tray layout I saw in prior company. She let me do my experiment and I figure out how to set the modes and it works as intended. This saved her lots of time having to stick with the machine where she could’ve just spend sometime to figure out as well. People’s pride usually gets in their way of learning.
side note: stick fresh printed paper back into printing machine can easily cause paper jam. That’s on top of the risk where you printed with wrong orientation/side if you didn’t follow the marking direction properly.
lastly, it’s paperless era, please encourage the folks that needs to do the papers to use docusign or something to accomplish the same task. we really don’t need to waste all those paper printing information that’s only needed for a 30mins meeting. when we can all see it on say, google doc.(or whatever sharing platform. )
Yeah, I’m not Gen Z and I’ve always found office printers unnecessarily complicated. Like, I’ve barely learned how to use a fax machine, do you have to make it even more confusing?
Printers feel like they’re still trying to use metaphors and analogies to pre-printer technology, which very few people even remember anymore. It’d be like if we still used the same training they used on the first cars comparing them to horse and buggy setups today. No one would get it.
