Some students don't understand the concept of computer files and folders

Windows search is basically pointless I haven't used it since W7 so I have no idea how these kids can't know something so needed in 2021 on modern PC's unless they simply use their smartphone 24/7
That's it. More people are using smartphones over PCs. Other than work and gaming, I use my smartphone most of the time. That said, I don't create or store files that much with my smartphone. I just look stuff up or use apps that access data in some way.
 
This shouldn't be such a surprise to anyone who watches Sci_Fi. This evolution has been expected from Logan's Run to The Matrix. But, we all know it'll end with Soilent Green...?
Think Happy Thoughts.
 
People usually get on my case when I try to explain why I believe the Personal Computer as a mainstream device for the general public has no future, but stories like this is why: you underestimate just how many young people have no interest in computers.

In the past, even if most people could grow up without having to deal with computers at all many eventually got acquainted since it was a requirement for so many jobs but I also believe thin clients and tablets will quickly replace the work computer/laptop paradigm as well unless you're explicitly a developer of sorts: most office tasks like email, excel files, interacting with CRM or ERP systems, etc. Can already be done in a perfectly serviceable way with just a tablet so I wouldn't be surprised if most people's work will revolve around a docked tablet at best but often just a tablet device, certainly no need for a full operating system.

And as for home well, numbers don't lie: statistically most people online already don't have a laptop or computer at all and maintain their entire online presence through their mobile phones and tablets entirely, gaming and leisure fully contained on those and maybe a gaming console on top of it. It's hard to believe for people on a site dedicated to technology and focusing mostly on computers but overall we're the niche, the future developers: don't expect businesses that depend on computers being mainstream devices to continue for much longer it will be either really low or really high end devices with no middle ground and not a lot of these super convenient midrange systems we used to be able to purchase easily in the past.

Except that's simply not the case. The statistics, like most statistics, can be interpreted multiple ways. The important statistic is that pc ownership has been climbing consistently. It looks like a tablet and mobile takeover because we have so many of those devices. Its quite common for everyone in a household to have a mobile and a tablet, but far less common for them to all have their own desktop.

Regardless, apple is going to test your hypothesis for you in the next few years. They clearly want to move most users to a locked down IOS and additionally lock down OSX as much as possible. They want it completely impossible to install a piece of software on an apple device unless the software was served by the app store.
 
I'm not surprised at all, unlike some people, I can clearly see how humanity is getting more stupid every generation, in general, as a whole.

The trend is downwards and if identity politics, all the new *****ic ideologies, and all the other stupid things that exist and are pushed forward harder since the last 10-20 years - if these things are not sings enough, than those that don't see them are in the middle of the problem themselves.

We will see worse and worse times going forward and there is no cure or stopping what's coming...
'Every generation tries to make things easier for their kids.'
But sometimes 'easier' is not always 'better', like this filing article says.
Or, say, how to use a rotary phone. Gotta know where new inventions came from and why.
 
'Every generation tries to make things easier for their kids.'
But sometimes 'easier' is not always 'better', like this filing article says.
Or, say, how to use a rotary phone. Gotta know where new inventions came from and why.
Yup important to know past history, one of the reasons I always loved that course in school.
 
No one to really blame here buy our schools. Anyone that thinks they will get far in this life without this knowledge is just going to be sending what little money they have to a pharmaceutical company.

Internet? Just a bunch of files in folders.

Smart phone? Just a bunch of files in folders.

Apps? Just a bunch of files in folders.
 
Is easy for older tech enthusiasts to laugh. Boomer already loves to laugh at zoomers failing to use a rotary phone, now we are laughing at kids not what a folder is.

But how many of you know how to hunt and skin your own animal for meat? How many of you actually knows how to farm enough food to cover winter (no, keeping your cactus alive does not count)? How many of you can troubleshoot your car beyond flat tyres/out of gas? Heck, how many of you know how to use an abacus? Even for something modern, how many of you, despite being tech enthusiasts, can actually assemble your computer from scratch; I don't mean buy a mobo from Asus, I mean actually build a mobo? A lot of those are seemingly useless knowledge for a city dweller, how is that different to a Zoomer thinking organised folder and file is also relic of the past if is not taught otherwise?

Skills that aren't needed are not learned; simple as that. And if is skills that is needed to be taught, then how is that a kid's fault when is the adults in their life that should be guiding them? Isn't that parenting and teaching all about?
 
Skills that aren't needed are not learned; simple as that. And if is skills that is needed to be taught, then how is that a kid's fault when is the adults in their life that should be guiding them? Isn't that parenting and teaching all about?
In a perfect world I would agree with you. Let me quote someone else for a response to the way thing are. Just because skills are not taught/learned does not mean they are not needed. Instead 80% of what is taught is not needed.
My wife (retired Teacher) laments that for the last approx. 20 years we have been dumbing down Americans.
 
But how many of you know how to hunt and skin your own animal for meat? How many of you actually knows how to farm enough food to cover winter (no, keeping your cactus alive does not count)? How many of you can troubleshoot your car beyond flat tyres/out of gas? Heck, how many of you know how to use an abacus? Even for something modern, how many of you, despite being tech enthusiasts, can actually assemble your computer from scratch; I don't mean buy a mobo from Asus, I mean actually build a mobo? A lot of those are seemingly useless knowledge for a city dweller, how is that different to a Zoomer thinking organised folder and file is also relic of the past if is not taught otherwise?
lol how do you go from this topic to this.

That is one hard reach dude.
 
How odd, I created an account just to respond to these comments.

Two things to say on the subject:

1) Everyone should go watch "Idiocracy". If you don't believe that the general intelligence of humanity or society is falling at a rapid rate, that movie will convince you. Some very odd parallel's in that movie that are coming to fruition already.

2) and as a radio program once put it about society, it's the pussification of America. If an analog clock on a wall gives you stress because you can't figure out what it shows, you got issues.
 
But how many of you know how to hunt and skin your own animal for meat? How many of you actually knows how to farm enough food to cover winter (no, keeping your cactus alive does not count)?
[...]
Skills that aren't needed are not learned; simple as that. And if is skills that is needed to be taught, then how is that a kid's fault when is the adults in their life that should be guiding them? Isn't that parenting and teaching all about?
Though I don't need to hunt for the animal, I SHOULD where the meat comes from and WHAT was done to the animal to get that meat. Though I don't need to know too much details from my car, I should understand that it consumes gas or electricity and what does that mean for the environment; the same in a computer, not to put everything on one folder and than I need to search everything or delete everything accidentally.

What happens?! People today more and more sadly DON'T CARE: they don't care what happens to the neighbor; they don't care if others don't earn enough to eat or Indians/ other Asians have to work 7/24 and earn a misery, so that the companies earn giant amounts of money; they don't care that giant ships consuming gigantic amount of bad fuel and pollute brutally, just that their devices come from the other side of the world, to be gigantilly profitable for companies, despite increasing unemployment in Europe, America, etc.

People care social networks, internet and virtual friends.
 
No, humanity was more educated 30 years ago, than today.... though. Humanity being/meaning the average US student.

Even a rebroadcast of old radio/TV interviews and personal recollection is illustrative of this. The average Teen and College grad, was more educated than today. Almost everyone knows this, except younglings who think they know everything, and done none of it.. AND FYI nobody cares what your interest are, only that you are well educated and a productive member of society. Taking care of your own..!



The point is:
Student need to learn.. and understand filing system and why they were invented and used..! It is knowledge... and one so logical that Other's who come afterwards, could use such a logical system to look things up and find what they need, intuitively.

Doing something with a different approach (as the Professor suggested), out of ignorance is unintelligent. Making something new, because you were not educated on old, is a waste of energy. That is why that Professor has failed his Students, because it doesn't take long to teach them about File System and how Libraries and PC work... it logical and easy.

5th grade stuff^... this Prof is just nann'ing his student and cow-towing to their ignorant cries.

On the one hand, most people don't know how to hunt mastodons or make earthenware jugs, but I don't think that makes them unintelligent. File folders, as opposed to directories, weren't even a thing before GUI existed. Yes it's user-friendly, easily-learned knowledge, but maybe an argument can be made that it's not needed and file searching is simply faster and better.

On the other hand, as someone who came of age learning MS DOS and Windows 3.1, yes I prefer to know exactly where my files are stored and prefer navigating through hierarchical folders. And I do agree that failure to teach and learn this knowledge is a net loss for consumers and a net gain for various SOS business interests that want you to pay them to store your files for you on the cloud. Since iTunes came out, the trend in tech has been monetization of things that you used to be able to do for free. That's what internet 2.0 is all about. If people don't know how, or physically can't save their files locally, this will only get worse. Microsoft gets recurring revenue if you subscribe to Office 360 or extra OneDrive storage, etc. Apple gets recurring revenue if you pay for extra iCloud storage.
 
On the one hand, most people don't know how to hunt mastodons or make earthenware jugs, but I don't think that makes them unintelligent. File folders, as opposed to directories, weren't even a thing before GUI existed. Yes it's user-friendly, easily-learned knowledge, but maybe an argument can be made that it's not needed and file searching is simply faster and better.

On the other hand, as someone who came of age learning MS DOS and Windows 3.1, yes I prefer to know exactly where my files are stored and prefer navigating through hierarchical folders. And I do agree that failure to teach and learn this knowledge is a net loss for consumers and a net gain for various SOS business interests that want you to pay them to store your files for you on the cloud. Since iTunes came out, the trend in tech has been monetization of things that you used to be able to do for free. That's what internet 2.0 is all about. If people don't know how, or physically can't save their files locally, this will only get worse. Microsoft gets recurring revenue if you subscribe to Office 360 or extra OneDrive storage, etc. Apple gets recurring revenue if you pay for extra iCloud storage.

lulz^

Yes, file folder and even FILE CABENETS were a thing before the GUI existed.

And, not educating dumb college students on how file system works is a failure of the Teachers. It's like they don't learn the dewy decimal system either = ignorant children.

If you make it out of high school, and you do not know what a file system is, your school failed you... period. People use a file system for everything, including work.

No excuses...
 
Yes, file folder and even FILE CABENETS were a thing before the GUI existed.
At that time they were referred to as directories. I still refer to them that way. GUI renamed them as folders for ease of graphical representalion.
Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.

DIR [drive:][path][filename] [/A[[:]attributes]] [/B] [/C] [/D] [/L] [/N]
[/O[[:]sortorder]] [/P] [/Q] [/R] [/S] [/T[[:]timefield]] [/W] [/X] [/4]

[drive:][path][filename]
Specifies drive, directory, and/or files to list.
 
There are many other concepts that (too)many modern students don't understand. It's called functional illiteracy (analfabetismo funcional). Also, lots and lots of people are still computer illiterate even if, with the help of their smartphones, they have learned how to pretend to be computer savvy.
 
Last edited:
This shouldn't be such a surprise to anyone who watches Sci_Fi. This evolution has been expected from Logan's Run to The Matrix. But, we all know it'll end with Soilent Green...?
Think Happy Thoughts.
I also think we will end up with/as Soylent Green, sooner rather than later.
 
I would never have imagined this news could even exist.
That a generation raised surrounded on tech, can't even understand something as basic files and folders.
It's worse than you think. Children nowadays, at least in Europe and USA, are being pampered and spoiled like never before in the history of humankind. 10 year olds living in cities with modern public transportation don't even know how to take a bus to get home, or even where they live, because their parents drive them to and from school every day. Homework takes up 1 hour or at most 2 hours a day, or even a week, from their precious free time. Time they mostly spend on the popular social networks or playing online video games on their smartphones. They look at those small screens so much that they end up with headaches and blurry vision almost daily. They only go outside when their phones are charging (they use them until the battery gets fully discharged and the device turns off automatically). They suck at any and all sports, even badminton, they don't have the patience to learn them, because all they think about it how to get inside faster to turn on their smartphone and continue the gaming session on that P2W Made in China mobile game. When they become teenagers they start drinking alcohol and when they're on forced vacations because of this or that corona virus, they spend many nights outside with their mates, drinking heavily until 6,7 AM in the so-called "botellónes". Later, when they somehow manage to incorporate in the working force, they end up making life miserable for the rest of us because of their lack of knowledge.
 
Last edited:
Okay fair enough I'll buy it. But I imagine it only takes minutes to show someone how files and folders work.
 
Back