[europsucks]

I know a lot of people who can't use a computer or a smartphone, which is also very sad. They never learned to explore and experiment with the user interface. If you explain something to them, they write down every step. When the next software update changes a little thing, they are lost again. That's very similar to your "just turn it by 90°" example.

Do you have elderly parents you support with their computers? Then maybe you know what I am talking about.

I am not saying kids shouldn't play with bricks. The whole premise of the article seems silly. Nobody claims kids should play with computers instead of bricks.

As for becoming computer savvy, I've seen kids pick up quite a lot from playing with computers. They quickly figure out how to find and launch the games they like, for example. And they also experiment, for example rearranging the UI. Then there is Minecraft.