Also, no Robux gifts (or Roblox at all, for that matter). They’re getting real games from GOG, Itch, and Steam.
Desktop kid checking in.
Like the gods intended, with Model M keyboard and US robotics dial-up.
I’m a former desktop kid and it shows in my habits of today. I got a desktop computer at age 10, Android smartphone in my mid-teens, switched to a laptop only at age 18, got my first tablet only in my late 20s.
It’s literally my default activity when I’m at home to sit at my desk where a laptop is connected to two computer screens. In fact that’s what I’m doing right now. Meanwhile my tablet is lying somewhere on the couch and I haven’t touched it in weeks, it’s probably not even charged anymore.
I used to do the same when I was single, but now I can’t set up a desktop in the family living room, so I’m using a laptop instead (and a NAS for storage). There are a lot of moments where I’m thinking that it would be nice to plop down behind a desktop for a moment, but it’s too impractical to set up the laptop and put it away afterwards, which is a shame.
My kids are using an old laptop (running Linux) for gaming. I’ve been thinking about whether it would be good to give them an old desktop at some point, so they can do some tinkering. But the mobility advantage of laptops is real, so that’s a dilemma. Maybe I’ll just let them choose at some point.
Yeah similar. Got my first tablet at 19 and even that was a eink one for uni work.
Indeed, brother! Unlike the unwashed masses of today, we do not “scroll”. Laying on a couch and “scrolling”? NAY, we sit down in our delectable chairs with lumbar support, at our adjustable desks with perfect posture, we “browse”, we “SURF” the TRUE internet! Unlike those who believe that “the internet” is just a grouping of the 5 most popular websites.
I do scroll on my smartphone too, but not usually when I’m at home, because I have a desktop computer there, way more convenient.
superior look of desktop gamer supremacy
Better than iPad kids. Not ideal obviously, but still far better.
iPads (and mobile devices/OS’s generally) are designed to be as simplistic and easily understood as possible. They abstract away complexity, have to make menus less cluttered and make buttons larger to accommodate how people use them, and the lower power processors also mean less functionality than desktop-based systems.
If you grow up using less shit, you’ll learn how to use less shit.
Computer kids will always be more tech savvy than touchscreen kids. They’ll have better critical thinking skills and better abilities to apply their knowledge in ways that aren’t spelled out for them by patronizing tech companies like Google and Apple pushing their walled gardens.
Laptop kids gain tech skills
IPad kids gain social media brain
Change my mind
Cyberdeck kids slay
iPads are content consumption devices. Full stop.
The iPad does not make the kid stupid. The kid that is stupid was already going to be stupid, tablet or not. Blaming “the tablet” or “the videogame” for the kid’s behavior is like blaming pencils for getting bad grades, and simple-minded folks rely on this.
I’ve grown up (as have many of you) seeing others growing up, and have seen a couple generations of kids grow up after me as well.
All traits are on a normal distribution. The kids that are smart will learn all day long with an iPad, and will find videos of kids making songs about addition and multiplication. The dumb kids will spend all day 6-7-ing.
Since traits lie on a normal distribution, the majority of people have the muppety idea that “it’s the tablet that is bad - can’t be my kid” while having passed muppet traits along.You think I’d still have perfect SAT scores if instead of reading 500 books in high school I spent my time playing World of Warcraft? Get a grip.
They are extremely powerful for creative things too? I have a relatively new pro iPad and it doesn’t have any social media on it, just like 30 apps for art, CAD work/lidar scanning, remote music apps for production/djing, and actual music creation apps. Pretty sure you can also get a terminal and remote desktop apps if you need. The case also has a keyboard and touchpad.
I won’t argue that most people are just using their iPads for tiktok and Instagram, but that definitely isn’t close to what an iPad does best.
A lot of things can be good, in the right application, but can also be very harmful when used wrong. In this case, the bad application is the default. Fentanyl is a wonderful drug for the medical industry, but it’s still incredibly harmful on the street (partially because it’s illegal, so people don’t know what they’re getting).
I’d argue phones are much more frequently used for social media / scrolling content than iPads. Assuming you aren’t a parent who gave your baby an iPad, I’d say it’s unlikely iPads are their main issue
True. But this is a rarefied use case that doesn’t apply to 99% of teenage iPad users, at least in my pedagogical experience. Keep in mind the average ACT score for college-bound seniors in Florida is 18. Meaning these kids literally can’t even read. They’re not using iPads for anything resembling creativity.
I can guarantee there are kids who are using iPads for coding at this very moment
Raised a kid on a pc, gen Z, he has no idea how anything works and his eyes go glassy any time we try to explain anything. Millennials are the unique in being more computer literate because we grew up with it.
Well mine know what a terminal is and can execute the commend needed to launch a Java Minecraft server instance soo you’re not wrong ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Gotta get that PrismLauncher to play those modpacks for way too much time :D
modded minecraft is a good gateway drug for getting into tech
its a large part of how i did
facts
especially if the laptops run linux
My kids will be playing the same sacred edutainment games from 1992-2005 as I did on a virtual Windows XP machine and this is unironically a hard non-negotiable for any serious long term partner
instead they are being raised AI/ phone kids which is probably worst, for genz, alpha. mIlleneals are desktop/laptop kids.
Just realised that gen z are going to wax on alpha about growing up without conversational bots like elder millennials wax about growing up pre internet
gameboy kids
Me when the Southwestern Bell sales rep offered my dad free call waiting and I could finally stop getting in trouble for spending all day on the [dial up] internet when my parents weren’t home.
Even better, desktop kids. And then when time comes to upgrade their rig they can research and do it themselves (with some supervision).
It’s also nicer imho when the internet is in a specific place in the house.
… sent from my phone
The next generation might be looking at RAM the same way the current generation is looking at houses with the way things are going…
I teach in a makerspace and I have to start every new class by teaching the basics of using a mouse and keyboard. It is really hard to teach 3D modelling to students who have no idea what modifier keys or a scroll wheel is.
I miss the laptop generation. The phones are good for consuming they are not good for creating.
I was a desktop kid who kept having to break the windows padlock to play games.
Windows… padlock?
I’m playing the equiv of Minecraft (Luanti) and my 4 year old sits on my lap and helps me jump and use the two mouse buttons. Usually stuff like this begins with the parent’s habits.
My kid used to sit in my lap and press ‘w’ in Goat Simulator to move us forwards while I ensured the chaos happened. Eventually they added the jump button to their repertoire. Then they learned to use controller so we could play Goat Simulator 3 together in split screen. Eventually they moved out of my lap and they have their own computer now.
We used to play an hour together every day. We 100%'ed Terraria, played through PalWorld, Bluey, A Hat in Time, Vampire Survivors, and a few others. They play through single player games on their own after school nowadays, so that hour each night has been repurposed for reading together. We still play together on the weekends.
They’ll occasionally ask if I remember the silly games we played in Goat Simulator 3, like where we’d both equip brooms, one of us would steal the other’s broom and fly away, leaving the broomless goat to dramatically monologue about how their broom was stolen. Those moments gaming together are precious, and I hope you and your kid enjoy them.
This is prime bonding that they might not remember when they’re older, but will make your job as a parent 10,000x easier. 🎉
