[ricktdotorg]

> Most non-technical people I know wouldn't have a clue what a .zip was

perhaps i am getting mussed up by the definition of "non-technical people" but i've worked directly with many, many non-technical people over many years who definitely knew what a zip file was and what it was for. they might not all have necessarily known how to _create_ a zip file, and sure i had to coach/train a few here and there who legitimately didn't have a clue, but i think if you're talking about anyone who has used a computer for a large-ish piece of their work (whether it is "technical" work or not) in the last 10 years or so, the chance of them having more than no clue about what a zip file is, is higher than you think it is.

i can think of multiple instances each of accountants, graphics/media/designer folks, scriptwriters, admin/executive assistants, chauffeurs, playwrights, stagehands, light/rope riggers, costume designers/tailors, HR folks, security guards, painters, writers etc who have had to deal with .zips.

would a 20-years-exp industrial lathe engineer/specialist know what to do with a zip? maybe? maybe not? depends if they like to mess around with computers after hours or does their company distribute work orders via email? if so, maybe they've dealt with a zip.

if a "non-technical person" is someone who doesn't use a computer very much, then yeah, i'm with you. i personally wouldn't consider a junior graphic designer to be "technical" but i'd bet you all the money in my wallet that 95/100 of junior graphic designers know what to do with a .zip file.

BTW everything else you said, i 100% agree.

[trhr]

> would a 20-years-exp industrial lathe engineer/specialist know what to do with a zip?

Are you kidding? That guy has to convert his files to binary, put them on a USB drive, carry them to SunOS server, plug them in, and type something in a command line to send the binary over Serial to his CNC machine.

Industrial equipment isn't EOL at 30 years, it's "lightly used." You'd be floored at how much "ancient" tech knowledge is required to operate it.

[meshaneian]

And this is why https://www.floppydisk.com/ is still doing well.

[doubleg72]

Not to mention rs-232

[voytec]

RS232 has adjustable frequency whereas USB can't be configured this way, making it useless for GPS devices used for time synchronization and such.

[kevinmchugh]

My gut is that anybody who has used a smart phone more than a traditional desktop OS is less likely to know what a zip is

[Eldt]

It's a shame to see our beautiful gardens all walled up

[Arrath]

It's not so much (or just) walled gardens, its the hiding of the more fundamental layers of the system from the user.

A user doesn't navigate through the file system to a folder where they've saved a bunch of notes in discrete text files of some format or another, they start up a notekeeping app and use its interface to open their notes. Where are these notes saved? That is either hard to find in the bowels of the settings of the app, or entirely hidden and they're saved in a database accessible only to that specific app.

[cratermoon]

> saved in a database accessible only to that specific app

Or worse, on some disk “in the cloud" rented by the app maker, subject to subscription fees and the stability of the company.

[fennecfoxy]

It's more convenience actually. The same path that took us away from interacting with our computers purely via a terminal connected to a mainframe.

The cycle of grumpy old men will go on, gen Z will fondly remember the tech of their day and think that later gens are lazy/too trusting for letting AGI manage their lives.

[Dylan16807]

Maybe. A phone will cause more hassle if they do get a zip file, so they might be more likely to remember that.

[cm2187]

Those are the most dangerous. They will happily open a file suffixed .zip.exe when windows hides the extension and it shows as .zip.

[wildrhythms]

I genuinely believe this one change in the name of 'aesthetics' (or whatever justification was created for this) has caused real, material hurt for people.

[Lammy]

Indeed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILOVEYOU

[themagician]

Junior graphic designer is most definitely a tech person… they are literally working on a computer every day all day long. I think sometimes people lose sight of just how much of a bubble they are in.

Those who are old enough to remember when files had extensions might know. Those who work with a file system daily know. In both cases we are talking about extreme minorities now.

[iamdamian]

To avoid a No True Scotsman impasse, who exactly are we talking about that doesn’t know what a zip file is? Someone who doesn’t use a laptop for their day job?

[joseda-hg]

Someone like my mom, she knows Spreadsheets as green files, and other than the color and that they open Excel, for her they're the same as any other file (Windows default hiding extensions doesn't help either)

Recently, she asked me to put a set of documents into a folder (She meant a compressed file) because some page required it

I have always found it fascinating, considering she has worked with Office products for the last ~20 years

[RajT88]

It's wild to me some of the things I never knew, even though I've been using Windows or DOS for probably 35 years.

For example, I recently learned you can't name a file CON. Try it. Somehow over all those decades, I've never tried to do this until Tom Scott made a video about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC6tngl0PTI

[majormajor]

I'd wager that you're going to have low familiarity at best among people under 30[0] where computer use is ancillary to job at best, so all sorts of "technician" type jobs[1] plus warehouse work, transportation, and other public-facing roles like retail, police, fire...

I would make a weaker claim than "doesn't know what it is", there are probably a lot of people there who at one point have seen "files.zip" in gmail and then downloaded it and double clicked it to expand it or such, but I don't think any of them are going to be confused by URLs with .zip domains.

I'm actually curious about the intended distribution of this website - it's header is "If you clicked on this domain by mistake" but... I clicked on it very intentionally from an HN link, so didn't expect a file attachment at all; not sure what the scenario is where something could look like a file but actually be a link? E.g. if it's on a malicious website you could easily trick users with "Download stuff.zip" link text that actually points to "bobsmalware.com" or whatever, which works just as well for anyone loosely familiar with .zip files but not sophisticated enough to not trust the text vs the actual link pointer. Just like the original comment from `SimonPStevens says.

[0] grew up on mobile, not on desktop/laptop

[1] medical, physical therapy, landscaping, painting, mechanical, etc

[micromacrofoot]

Yes, there are still huge numbers of people who don't own a computer other than their smart phone.

[ssss11]

I think they mean people who are not good with computers - a subset of non-technical person.

Think of your 80 year old granny, or the guy down the road who’s never owned a computer.

Maybe you don’t have many in your circle but they are everywhere.