find stuff on the net - How Do Some People Naturally “Get It”?

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This article is taken from the similarly-named chapter in the e-book “Find Stuff On The Net”, available for purchase at http://www.findstuffonthenet.com

How Do Some People Already “Get It”?

Before I start to show how you, yes you, can FIND STUFF ON THE NET, I'd like to talk a little bit about how some people just 'get it' when it comes to the computers and the Internet. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about when you think about others who already understand the Internet 'like the back of their hand'.

You know ... computer programmers, kids, kids, teenagers, and kids...

It's true that younger people seem to understand the Internet a lot better than ... ahem ... the rest of us. Just why is this? Aren't older people supposed to be wiser? Since we have more experience in life, shouldn't that transcend computers and allow us to understand these machines (yes, computers are just complicated machines, after all)?

After discussions with many kids, twenty-somethings, thirty-esques, and older individuals, I have my own theory on how kids sometimes understand computers more than adults. This is not a scientific study, nor is this a breakthrough sociological finding. In fact, it's rather simple.

Kids have grown up with computers all around them pretty much their entire lives, so they're not used to anything different. Due to school, they are used to being in a learning environment, experimenting, and quickly coping with failure and moving on. With this more computer use comes experience, thus more understanding.

* Not Used to Anything Different *

This first part is very important, and I need to illustrate this point even though it scares me, and I'm definitely not old. I'm writing this in the year 2002. A 14-year old teenager, born in 1988, was 6 years old in 1994. 1994. Since they were 6 years old, the Internet was really starting to get in full swing. Thus, they don't remember things any differently. To most kids, the Internet is just another part of their lives, like a television or a telephone, and most can't even comprehend how life existed without these things!

If you haven't heard of instant messaging, it's kind of like e-mail, except the recipient gets the message almost instantaneously. Instead of waiting minutes, hours, or days for an e-mail to reach its recipient, instant messengers can talk in almost real-time. Businesses are starting to use it, but its mainly attracted teenagers who, it's predicated in five years, will "talk" to their friends (on what are called "buddy lists") via instant messaging more than they will by using the telephone.

Scary. Teenagers using something more than the telephone.

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Many adults find this preposterous. Why spend time typing on a cold, unemotional keyboard when you can spend time engaging in a fun conversation? And whatever happened to mailing letters - does anyone do that nowadays?

Compare how kids act with this antidote about how adults reason. I was watching a television show just today about instant messaging in the workplace. Legal issues aside, some people wonder why this is catching on in the office. They thought that if you need to ask an officemate or cubicle-mate a question, isn't it easier to just call them or walk over to their desk and ask them in person? Why resort to the computer for communication? Using a phone or talking is how matters have always gotten settled, and it works, so why change?

See? Adults, with their knowledge and experience, use reason and logic to question the usefulness of machines against how things "have always been done" without the use of these tools. Kids and teenagers, though, usually don't worry as much about tradition, or don't *seem* to do so. In actuality, according to kids, using computers is a tradition; these tools have been around "forever" and are how things have "gotten done" in their short lives. Therefore, kids and teenagers, when prompted about their constant use of these tools, ask, "What's the big deal?"

* A Learning Environment *

I hope people do not take offense to this section, as this is just my experience with talking to some people.

Kids and teenagers have, virtually their entire lives, either been in classrooms or other sorts of learning environments (camps, educational field trips, etc.) Their minds are almost trained to learn, to study, and to think. Kids are constantly pressured to learn more, to do better in school, and a lot of their time is not spent in performing the same work-related duties every day, like many adults, but to accumulate knowledge.

In a sense, younger people are in a "learning mode".

Adults, on the other hand, are not always in this mode of thought. Many (not all, but many!) adults believe that they've paid their dues. They've spent their time in school and they can now enjoy a "retirement" from constant learning. Their experiences and wisdom will guide them in their daily life. Sure, adults realize they must occasionally partake in a trade show, a workshop, or a seminar, but this is only a small part of their busy lives. Juggling bills, possibly a spouse or kids, and other day-to-day headaches that younger people can avoid, many adults neither have the time nor desire to always be in a "learning mode".

Combine this idea with the fact that most kids and teenagers have had some experience with, or at least have been familiar with, computers most of their lives. While younger people are in a "learning mode" and receiving their education, they are more willing to spend time learning about computers.

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This article is copyright 2002 Andrew Malek of Envision Programming and may not be reproduced. All company names and web sites are copyrights or trademarks of their respective organizations.