[a-priori]

The slightly different statement "young folk use technology the best" is closer to the truth. Just the other day I was saw my cousin's toddler pick up her father's iPhone, unlock it, and pick the game she wanted to play. Even at 4 years of age, she's a decent user of technology.

But they don't necessarily understand the technology they're using. For example, teenagers these days are addicted to their cell phones, and texting is such an integral part of their social lives that taking away their cell is tantamount to locking them in a room for all the social isolation it causes.

They are expert users of technology, yet they don't necessarily understand the technology they use. As an example, if you give a teenager a URL for a page with information they need, instead of typing/copy-pasting it into the address bar, most will type 'google' into the address bar, put the URL into the search box, and click the first link.

Just being a highly proficient user doesn't make you an expert. Young folk are highly proficient users of technology, but they're not experts unless they've deliberately learned how the technology works.

[hatu]

I was lucky to be a kid around the time NES was the new thing and people were starting to get PC's at home so I've played video games from 5 years old. Still when I first started programming games, I had to start from square 0. I don't think there's any correlation with being a "natural" user of the web and understanding the technology behind it. As a engineer though, you'll immediately start dismantling that tech in your head.

[rodgerd]

I was luckier, because I got an actual computer instead of a console, and in the era when kids were just as likely to get an Usborne book of BASIC programs to type into their computer if they wanted to play games.

Kids getting consoles and similar hermetically-sealed boxes depresses me.