Re: They don't need our stinkin' manuals??

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>]

Marilynne Smith wrote:
> 
>  From time to time, even on this enlightened list, I hear the comment that
> older people don't understand computers as well as the young.  Most of the
> young I know are experts in email and computer games, not much
> else.  (There's a broad statement for you.)
> 

I'll second it, however. A few years ago when I was teaching, about
85% of first year English students needed lessons in basic word
processing.

That said, I envy the teenage techies tremendously. They have a
chance to do serious work and to be treated as responsible adults
much earlier than I did, and they can do it without having to take a
rubber-stamp degree. 

However, they are a minority. And while many of them are very bright
and personable, and confident enough to be eccentric - a trait that
endears anyone to me - many of them also lack any breadth of
experience. 

My present company (not the magazine) originally started employing

the wiz-kids, thinking that they would have the right combination of
experience and enthusiasm for the job. However, a number of them had
never held a job before, and were less responsible than expected,
and had trouble working as a team. After a few more experienced
people joined the company, we started to appreciate the value of
their experience. Almost always, the older hires were more
professional, and more suitable as project leaders. The company
policy is now to try for a mix of ages (while encouraging the
wiz-kids with the aptitude to develop the skills that will lead them
to more responsible positions).  

-- 
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
604.421.7189 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com

"The Queen was in her chamber, a-combing of her hair,
There came Queen Mary's spirit and It stood behind her chair,
Singing, 'Backward and forward and sideways may you pass,
But I will stand behind you till you face the looking-glass.'"
- Rudyard Kipling, "The Looking-Glass"

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