In my region, people who grew up with mac are more likely to finish higher class school than people who grew up using windows.
But not because they use mac but because they tend to have richer parents…Good grief! The word is excluded. Holy shit.
Shit was making my eye twitch.
probably a Windows user
*Reads comments in thread*
I started with a pair of matchsticks and a trenchcoat that I got at Galipoli in WW1, using the Phosphorus I found in the Bosphorus to craft makeshift TI calculator based on specs I got via Fax from a Samurai. I ran slackware on my slacks until we defeated the Ottomans, but they unleashed their puppy linuxes on us, and we stood no chance.
Meanwhile…
At the Hall of Justice, we join our heroes enjoying a celebratory game of Tuxkart on their PopOS devices after their latest defeat of Lex Luthor’s DOS army.
“That was a great buffer underflow, Batman” said Superman, piping his Krypto into a GPG wallet.
“Thank you, Superman. Evil shall think twice before compiling on a non GCC system without warnings enabled!”
It’s all that musl he has.
What if you were started on an Apple computer before Macs existed?

Get out.
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Vic-20 here. What a time to be alive.
TRS-80 then IBM PCjr here. Both hand-me-downs though.
Mom wouldn’t let me on the 386 until I could touch-type and write a program in BASIC. She was a Cobol and IBM RPG programmer.
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I started on an Antikythera mechanism, you kids that started on a modern machine were coddled.
C64 gang, represent!
Seriously though, I feel like that generation of machines was the last time you could look at hardware and say “yeah, I understand literally everything about how this works” and that knowledge has made even some of my (tech sector) coworkers think I’m a wizard
I had a GUI - windows 3.11
But it was so slow. So I made my own gui/menu system that ran in dos. I was between 9-11 I reckon.
Not sure where that lands me on the spectrum of coddledness
I know you’re joking but this is how a lot replies here feel. Kids don’t even know how to program using punch cards anymore smh.
40 years from now the newest generation will be saying “Grandpa doesn’t even know know what a Cyber Tibulator Strip is let alone how to use it. If you need him he’s out back yelling at clouds.”
Don’t get me wrong here, tech literacy is low but when has it not been?
I can technically claim I started with a hand me down C64 from my grandmother in the early 90s. But I was like 6 years old, and I didn’t really get into computers until we got a Windows 95 machine a couple of years later. Though by 99-2000 I was regularly playing around with the C64 for the novelty of what felt like ancient tech.
I remember using dialup internet on windows 98 in the late 90s to look up how to use the C64.
Yeah, it was just MSDOS. I saw “Abort, retry, fail” so many times, and I didn’t even know what it meant because I was four and I just wanted to play Family Feud with my brother.
Apple ][e was my first. We also had an XP machine for internet (Neopets) but I didn’t have to fight for turns on the Apple.
I had an Apple ][e I could use at school. It was preferable to the ][c for the same reason.
Are you joking? C64 was the bomb back in the day! My Atari and Amiga mates were enjoying colors and music and games while I had sat there on my colourless, mute PC. All I had was Flight Simulator 2 in black and white. And DrBrush for drawing in Hercules “graphics” mode.
I think that being forced to learn about WINE at a young age may have been beneficial actually (if extremely unpleasant)
So unpleasant.
There are dozens of us
I remember when Wine was in alpha for twelve years (and then beta for three more). Was surprised to learn that it finally exited that stage, some time ago already.
Ummm how do kids turn out if you install Linux Mint on a cheap laptop and give it to them to screw around with? Asking for a friend.
It leads the kid to Arch. I hope you prepared to always hear “I use Arch, btw.”
I’ll let you know in 10 years.
Nice…I meant, I gave my 7yo (at the time) a computer we put Mint on it. He is 9 now, so by 19 I think we will see how it has changed his skill level vs the gen pop
BAAAABE, I WANT A KID.
My cousin became an IT tech. I set her up with Ubuntu on a cheap desktop when she was about 12.
One of us.
My 8 and 9 year old kids use xubuntu on a 2013 macbook air. They use it for writing stories, making a lot of pixel art with Piko Pixel, and some code block style programming with Lego Spike. They are learning about multi-user systems, file management, etc. I’m keeping an eye out for a cheap pc that can run Minecraft (lots of those right now since people are just trashing old win 10 machines) because the older kid wants to learn how to make Minecraft mods.
What about people who started on DOS?
They are either database administrators or completely oblivious to modern technology
Lies and slander.
I am a system administrator and a network administrator. I abhor database management tyvm.
Heh, me too. DBAs are to sysadmins what sysadmins are to devs
Or AmigaOS?
Or Basic 2.0?
There was a 2.0?
TIL.
I was referring to the C64 which came with Basic V2. I did have a Commodore plus/4 as well to do some programming - it came with Basic 3.5 as far as I remember.
Oooh. That version. I forgot they called that basic 2.0
Alright.
used Solaris at 11
Plays factorio
Yeah I might be autistic.
Got a free Ubuntu CD shipped at ~14
Can’t socialize
Factorio
I’m cooked.
my dad had a copy of solais as he works in IT and has for about 40 years. i was like “what is this solaris thing” and installed it and was like “Wow what the fuck did i just find”. asked my dad about it and he said some of the servers they used ran solaris so that’s why he had it as when his company used to have server farms he would flash them with solaris or win server. most of my interest in computers comes from my dad working in IT/Telecom and bringing home servers and watching his laptop with all the stuff he would do.
My dad knew enough to not get scammed at Bestbuy, but it was enough for me to figure it out from there. He did not keep up with tech as a hobby and is basically clueless at this point.
its odd cuz my dad is kinda the same way. he knows how to use things but he doesn’t keep up sometimes and is a bit clueless. he did not major in comp sci in college (EE) so he wasn’t a good programmer per-say and understood things 100%, but then a few weeks ago i catch him using reddit and chatGPT.
Das wirft natürlich eine sehr interessante wissenschaftliche Forschungsfrage auf, die ich mir erlaubt habe, in der wissenschaftlichen Literatur zu recherchieren:
“Does early exposure to different operating systems (macOS vs. Windows) correlate with differences in technological literacy and general problem-solving abilities among children and adolescents?”
The available research does not provide conclusive evidence that early exposure to different operating systems directly correlates with differences in technological literacy or problem-solving abilities among children and adolescents.
While studies reveal some interesting distinctions, the evidence is limited. Ronaldo Muyu et al., 2022 found Windows is more popular among university students (84.61% vs. 11.38% for macOS), suggesting potential usage differences. Shahid I. Ali et al., 2019 found no significant competency differences between Mac and Windows users in Excel skills. Cem Topcuoglu et al., 2024 noted that users’ perceptions of operating systems are often based on reputation rather than technical understanding.
Interestingly, Bijou Yang et al., 2003 found Mac users had significantly greater computer anxiety, which might indirectly impact technological literacy.
More targeted research is needed to definitively answer this question, particularly studies focusing on children and adolescents.
I did once have a Mac user describe the Bash terminal as “it looks like breaking things.”
Had to ssh into an orange pi I set up with emulation station to transfer some roms. Dude who I thought was tech literate was in awe and even described it as “hacking” a few days later recounting it with another friend.
Also was the hbic at a Dave and Buster’s, had to update the six person halo game, which runs on Linux, people started gathering around with their oooo’s and awe’s, with one kid saying it was like the movies. People by and large are pretty fucking
stupidignorant.Edit to not sound so harsh.
I mean idk. I know it’s simple once you know but not something I would expect the average person to be familiar with. To be fair if you’re hacking you’re probably are using ssh at some point. But also I wonder if some have a hard time accepting their own accomplishments. If we never allow ourselves to see our own advancement then we just see others who have not achieved as less. Give yourself some credit bro and by extension give these onlookers a break. What you’re doing is kinda cool. Is that not what draws you to these types of activities in the first place?
That’s a very solid outlook. Thanks for the perspective.
I think early exposure to several different OS’s means you’re at least not too poor, and lack of money does correlate a lot with illiteracy of all sorts.
I think you misunderstand: the question is not about exposure to different OSes, but about the correlation/causation of a given OS to later cognitive (and other) abilities. Please do apply adequate scientific rigor here!
The point I’m making is that I believe that people who have mac skills will need to also learn Windows skills just because it’s so much more commonplace.
Just like lefties can be more empathetic on scale, because they have to face the disappointment of things not being designed for them (us, but I’m more mixed-handed than pure lefty).
It’s not about the orientation of the hand, but the phenomena surrounding having to orient your hand / use a certain hand in a certain way.
Just like I don’t believe that Mac as an OS is inherently changing the kids significantly.
Please do apply adequate scientific rigor here!

And to be fair, I don’t really know anyone who’s only ever used a mac for those exact reasons. We had a few kids in graphic design school be like “well I mostly use Mac as my personal computer is a mac”, so they weren’t as used to using Windows, since they hadn’t done it since school.
Like if you compared the linguistic capacity of people in the US, I’m pretty sure that no matter what you choose as the primary language, those kids will still know English (as we’re talking about USA here), and if they know English, then they’re at least bilingual, which has a lot of cognitive benefits. But you wouldn’t be saying that specifically speaking some specific other language makes the kids smarter.
Some languages might give certain advantages, like say some aboriginal language which doesn’t have left/right but always uses cardinal directions. Due to them doing that it’s insanely hard to confuse their inner sense of direction, even if you chuck them if a van and drive them around blindfolded.
So I’m not saying using Macs can’t have some such small specific advantage, but I doubt it, and think it’s just general adaptation skills, which do correlate with positive cognitive development.
I hate Apple with all my guts, but in all fairness:
problem-solving skills surely don’t correlate. Tech-illiteracy though…very likely does. By anectodal knowledge at least.
Eh, windows definitely throws more shit to fix at you. Macs either work or need to be taken to an apple store
Sure thing, doesn’t mean that the apple-heads are unable to solve problems. Just not technical, computer-related ones :-)
I think that when you started matters a lot.
I’ve seen so many people on the “Only Millennials know how to use computers” and just kinda forgetting how many of this cohort didn’t get their hands on a computer until that first generation of Apples and Dells ended up in resale shops or on eBay for deep discounts.
So many folks who see kids on touch screens and throw fits, because that’s not how a “real computer” works, were throwing fits at their parents ten years ago for not understand how intuitive a touch screen is.
Feels like its all an excuse for people to get mad at one another, while occluding the simple fact that using a thing for a long time gives you more experience with the thing.
It’s not really so much the form factor of the hardware. I think it’s more to do with the increasing complexity of the apps and how they’re designed to hide a lot of what goes on behind the scenes. Think about how the earliest versions of Android didn’t even come with a basic file browser, for example.
It’s the overall push to turn computers into single-use appliances, rather than general purpose devices.
Think about how the earliest versions of Android didn’t even come with a basic file browser, for example.
They didn’t offer an official app, but the Google Store was flooded with 3rd party alternatives practically the day the OS was released.
Even then, knowing what an “App Store” is and how/why you’d use it is a skill more common among younger users. My mother, who happily goes on her laptop and installs all sorts of garbage, had no idea how to add an app to her phone. My younger coworkers are much more comfortable working through Citrix and other Cloud Services, because they don’t expect a file system to be living under every app they use.
It’s the overall push to turn computers into single-use appliances, rather than general purpose devices.
I more felt that the phone was becoming a kind of mono-device or universal remote, with a lot of the IoT tech trying to turn it into an interface for every other kind of physical appliance. If anything, I feel like the phone does too much. As a result, its interface has to become more digital and generic and uniform in a way that makes using distinct applications and operations confusingly vague.
But growing up in an analog world has definitely tilted my expectations. Younger people seem perfectly fine with syncing their phones to anything with a receiver or RFID tag. And the particularly savvy ones seem interested in exploiting the fact that everything has a frequency. I’ve met more than a few kids who have fucked around with the Flipper and other wireless receiver gadgets.
Yes, people keep finding ways to put others down in order to feel superior. It’s called being a bully. When everything was “blame and shame millenials for this”, there was a section of us millenials that swore we’d break the cycle of generational blaming. Now it’s all about blaming and shaming Gen-Z, because that shit gets clicks. Apparently being a bully never really goes out of style.
Absolutely. But I don’t think it’s crucial. If you test a bunch of 30 year olds on tech literacy and one started using a computer at 29, he will perform bad. But if you test a child at 12 who has had a pc for 2 years and a 30 year old person who has had a pc for 2 years, it becomes so irrelevant that just interest in the topic will determine the outcome. Though children do of course find everything interesting.
I think the reason why we have the perception about children learning fast is due to focus. They have unique abilities with their new little unstuffed heads, while a grown up will worry about not understand, thinking about something else entirely, not having time etc…
I mean younger brains do have more neuroplasticity and other factors, hence it’s easier for children to learn more languages than adults. I assume this applies to more than just language.
it’s easier for children to learn more languages than adults
Kids are also assumed to operate at a child’s language level. So an 8-year-old speaking both English and Spanish at the 1st grade level is impressive. But a 20-year-old speaking at a 1st grade level is considered remedial.
Even then, there’s a lot to be said for experience. Computers and languages alike benefit from years of exposure. A large English vocabulary will help you pick up Spanish faster. And many years of experience on an Apple will clue you into tricks a naive Windows/Linux user would never consider.
I remember my dad trying to limit my screen time by putting a password lock on the screen saver. He was shocked to discover that an eight year old figured out how to evade it by… restarting the computer. But then he enabled password on restart and got cagey when typing it in, and that slowed my Hackerman attempts down significantly.
Kids tend to learn basic things faster. But they lack the breadth of experience to recall and apply strategies and patterns they’ve accrued over a lifetime. So much of what we consider “smart” versus “dumb” in problem solving is just “how many times have you already seen the answer to this question applied successfully?” Figuring something out for the first time is always harder than applying the heuristic you’ve been using half your life.
You raise really good points, but I’d want to add that abstract thought and the general ability to “think around corners” are at least as important (if not more so the higher you go) as experience insofar as problem solving and “smarts” go.
They do have more neuroplasticity. But we have to define what that means and where this phenomenon comes from. Most just assume that younger equals better. This is not the case. You can even keep the neuroplasticity you have had as a child. One of the defining characteristics of neuroplasticity is the ability to adapt to new views. Since children have no views yet, they have no conflicting views either, causing acceptance. This is not the case with adults. But you can instrumentalize such knowledge to essentially undo your conflicting nature to increase neuroplasticity immensely. There is a cutoff and you will have a drop in potential for neuroplasticity as you age, but this is not in your child years. If you’re interested, I remember reading a study of life-long meditation on alzheimers. Maybe you can find them again. This is just one technique to increase neuroplasticity. I didn’t want to mention this part, as it is against common knowledge. But common knowledge is rarely correct.
Source: I have had to deal with significant loss of neural function through mental illness and have read up a lot about this topic to better myself.
I meant more that it makes a difference if your first computer was a Macintosh SE vs a MacBook Air.
Yeah my thought exactly I was raised on Macintosh and it’s completely different than the current apple product experience.
Ah, that’s true and I misunderstood you then. Though it’s hard for me to understand how that implies tech literacy in a total sense, since my grandpa has had a pc in and from the 20th century and while literate on tech given his generation, he is really not comparable to gen y-alpha. I would also wonder how this compares to devs, since most of them grow up relatively the same. PC in front of them, seeing code, monkey see monkey do, wam bam bap, software developer. I am in my 20s so I do not have knowledge about the first personal computers.
Agreed, I think it’s the main thing. My parents at the very least were firm believers in using computers from an early age, so as far back as I could remember I had my own PowerMac G3. With the rad blue monitor and round mouse.
honestly i think part of the reason i’m a computer tinkerer now is my formative years were spent trying to run specific minecraft launchers, n64 emulators and other stuff on the family mac
Yeah the mac or pc part doesn’t really matter if youre curious and like learning. You can do a lot with mac. However on the surface I would say its a little more simplified.
First computer I used was DOS.
Also DOS. Now I’m a digital plumber, keeping the pipes and tubes of the Internet from getting backed up with all the things happening commercially.
Remember, the Internet is not something you can just dump something on, it’s not a big truck.
Also DOS, the single button on the Mac mouse was a whole new way of using a computer.
Mine had 3.1 on it, but most of the games had to b3 run through dos prompt
So I started with a DOS machine that my dad had at work, then my school got a few Apple Macs in the library so I played Oregon Trail on the green screen, them the first computer we had at home that I was able to spend hours on was windows 3.1.
'98 myself. But I got a vivid memory of being at my aunt’s when her computer guy was there and he hated windows describing it as for the lazy. I was really young att but remember playing some kinda dig dug type game that had cartoonish CPUs as the collection goal. I also remember figuring out how to launch it on a dos system.





















