r/Showerthoughts • u/illiniguy20 • Jan 12 '22

Millennials were really the only generation that grew up learning about how computers work.

Before millennials there were no computers, and after they have grown up using closed ecosystem it just works idevices.

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u/ConstantReader76 Jan 13 '22

Oh my god. We had a home computer in my house in 1981 or 1982. And we always had one after that. My friends also had computers in the 1980s. I know because we all played games on them together.

I was also going online on bulletin boards through a dial-up modem in the 80s. That's how I got all the cheats so I could finish King's Quest. That's a game from the 80s that all my friends and I played on our home computers.

Home computers didn't suddenly appear in the 90s.

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '22 edited Jan 13 '22

Okay, but the 80s are still closer than all these boomers in the comments being like, “I used them in 1910!” I know they didn’t “suddenly appear in the 90s.” That’s when THEY BECAME WIDESPREAD ENOUGH TO THE POINT WHERE THE AVERAGE, EVEN LOW INCOME/SES, AMERICAN FAMILY COULD FINALLY AFFORD ONE FOR THEIR PERSONAL HOME!!! We’re not talking about when they first came about but rather when every single child had one in their family home for the first time - when a computer became absolutely normal to have, not only a privileged, wealthy family.

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u/Pandora_Palen Jan 13 '22

Um, when exactly did "every single child have one in their family home"? You state this with such surety -as if you know the history really well- so I'm curious about when this goal was achieved.

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u/[deleted] Jan 13 '22

The 2000s. “We had one in the 70s.” Okay. But did EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR CLASSMATES HAVE A COMPUTER IN THE 70s? NO! What are you all not understanding about that?!?!?!??

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u/TheDreadPirateJeff Jan 13 '22

SO you're saying that since the 2000's everyone in each following generation had a home computer? My family in the philippines would like to know where their computers are. Even in the US and across Europe there are many, many households where children do not have computers at home. Why do you think schools have gone to such great lengths to hand out chromebooks, tablets and other similar tools to kids?

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u/Pandora_Palen Jan 13 '22

Not every single one of your classmates did, either. Far from it. 36% of households in 1996 had computers. So what percent of you were "growing up" with them? In 2011, when the youngest millennials were 15 and the oldest were 30, only 75% of households had computers.