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this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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I teach a programming class to young adults (18-25, usually) and was flabbergasted last semester when I realized that a couple of them didn't know what a directory hierarchy/file system was.
My suspicion is that the ease of use angle of "just tell me what you want and I'll find it" led to this. Not saying ease of use is bad, but I expected more from people wanting to learn programming.
And I'm over here meticulously organizing my music library into folders by band, album, year, etc...o the humanity.
There's a subgroup of the millennial and gen X that grew up with a sweet spot of computers such that you actually need to know how it works in order to use one effectively. Ease enough to do a lot of fun stuff, hard enough that it encourages learning the technical minutiae. The rise of smart phones and net/chrome books means there is a huge chunk of population that has a superficial and passing relationship with tech. It's big buttons or else it doesn't register with them. It's not their fault, the pursue of usability and fool proofing without actually giving tools to dig deep when necessary means they have less exposure to the underlying tech. Thus are less familiar with how things work. It's an universal phenomenon, I would bet most people have no clue how to raise, grow and process food, but still we don't starve, we go to the grocery and buy what's there already cleaned, processed and packaged. There are huge advantages to understanding the chain of production of food, but I'd guess most people would struggle in an agronomy class about what's a compost bin.
100% agree. Great description that dives into particulars of what I hand waved at.
Imo it's because most of them used crap-ass Chromebooks in school since the US school system is underfunded and allowed Uncle Googs to foot the bill and teach an entire generation the shitty Chrome "OS" is how computers work.
No. It's phones. Phones hide their file directories.
iPhones do, I can get to them on android
It's a bigger pain than it needs to be though, im an Android user too
What phone? I have a feeling your vendor is obfuscating it as stock android has a very straightforward files app.
The fact that android can be that different between different vendors isn't help either.
You can get to them, but how many people actually do, or even realize the directory tree exists?
How do people usually clean up their storage space? I guess if they never run out, they could avoid using it. Another thing I use it for is looking though downloads. Maybe some people just download a new version every time?
Most people's main use of storage is music, photos, and videos. All those can be managed from within their respective apps.
But is there a dedicated app for organizing your porn?
That was meant to be a joke but I'm pretty sure I saw a project posted on lemmy awhile back for that exact purpose : D
iOS has had a files app that looks very similar to the one on android for at least 5 years. Android had it first, but iPhones do not hide this app. It is installed by default just like on android.
iOS has had a files app that looks very similar to the one on android for at least 5 years. Android had it first, but iPhones do not hide this app. It is installed by default just like on android.
I know this thread is old as dirt, but I just have to respond.
While phones are computers, I feel like they've always been computers focused on consuming only. People use it to consume videos, social networks, games, music, you get the idea. Actual desktop and laptop computers have always been more focused on doing lots of different things. So consumption is definitely part of it, but also video editing, programming, scientific work, complex math, engineering, etc etc. Real heavy work type stuff.
I guess, to me, when schools started using Chromebooks, it sort of taught kids that actual laptops are just another device for consumption. Sure they can do work online through Goog Docs or whatever, but all that other really crunchy stuff is impossible since the "OS" is really just a web browser.
I'm obviously painting with a broad brush. Some phone users are total hackers, plenty of computer users only consume on their powerful computers, Chrome "OS" does have some (extremely limited) functionality, and tablets probably blur the line to some extent, but I think the broader idea holds.
Anyways, I've been thinking about your comment for a couple days, because it's a valid point, and I really felt the need to address for some reason. Thanks for attending my Ted Talk.
As one of those people who didn't understand what file systems and directories were at 18, it isn't taught in early school so you don't notice it is a thing that exists until you stumble upon it yourself. I distinctly remember the day it clicked and it felt like I had had an epiphany.
Once you break that basic barrier then you rely on your interests to take you further. I went from not understanding that to being a Linux guru in years time, so I fully believe if the desire to learn is there, it will happen. It is just not mandatory to learn anymore. So most people don't.
School computer classes are often just job training for working in an office doing word processing shit.
Still, it goes a long way when you explain how these things work. It isn't something super hard to grasp either, you just need to know that it exists in the first place. To know that it isn't just technomagic and has a proper rhyme and reason for the way things work. I have seen far too many people use their documents folder as their everything folder scattered without a care.
At least their documents folder isn't their desktop folder.
http://www.coding2learn.org/blog/2013/07/29/kids-cant-use-computers/
This is a fan-fucking-tastic article! Thanks bud.
beets, it's a life changer
A music folder is like a zen garden. Where's the zen in automating it all?