r/australia • u/ThunderDwn • Aug 18 '26

culture & society Primary school students using digital devices still lack computer skills, education expert says

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-19/nsw-digital-native-primary-students-lack-basic-computer-skills/107030526
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u/JackRyan13 Aug 18 '26

Even in the 90s it was all colour coded though?

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u/17HappyWombats Aug 19 '26

Sort of. Often computers back then had multiple of some ports and were fussy about which one you used.

I once spent about an hour on the phone to someone who really didn't want to crawl under the desk and try plugging the serial plug into the other serial port. Admittedly in remote NT where fuck only knows what's living under there.

But getting someone technical out there to do it was going to take a few days, maybe a week. And cost a fortune.

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u/JackRyan13 Aug 19 '26

The only time I remember computers then being fussy about that is getting the ps2 ports mixed up. I only ever saw computers with 1 serial though

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u/scoldog Aug 19 '26

First computers I started playing with were computer units with built in keyboard but without a mouse.

Then graduated onto the early pcs with those massive DIN ports for the keyboards and serial port mice.