Are Tablets And Apps Making Us Computer Brain Dead?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or don’t care much for technology, you’ll have seen that tablet devices and apps are taking over the World. But do these new technologies make computing too straight forward – Are they dumbing down the average computer user? There is no doubt that tablets like the iPad are simple to get your head around. In fact, they are pretty much idiot proof, such is their simplicity and usability. This is no bad thing – you’re hardly likely to splash out on a new tablet if it is a pig to use. I’m a bit of a sucker for a touchscreen and, having owned touchscreen phones before they were any good, I appreciate how brilliant the technology has become. To be honest, taking away my iPhone would be tantamount to chopping one of my hands off with an axe – I couldn’t do what I do without it. The increased ease of use of the technology means that computing has the chance to reach a wider potential audience than ever before. Tablets are so user friendly that a granny can use it with as much ease as her grandson. Apps back up the tablets usability by simplifying things even further. Combine this with the huge spread in user age on sites like Facebook and we have a formula for a new computer generation. Having read all that, you’ll probably find my question rather surprising – Is the emergence of tablets and apps threatening to leave a generation of users computer brain dead? It’s a bold statement to consider, but one that deserves some serious thought. If tablets continue their meteoric rise in popularity they will eventually replace laptops. If this happens, the main exposure a generation will have to computing would be through tablets. Being that they’re so simplified, the chances are that users will lead a computing life of just pressing an icon to solve a problem. This makes things easier than the days of learning MS-Dos and practically having to be a programmer to get your computer turned on. But it will also mean that users will have little or no idea of what actually happens when you press that icon. Whereas the passion of a generation of developers and programmers was born out of having to learn the inner workings of their computers, the new tablet generation face losing the same chance to fall in love with the inside of their tablet – the modern love affair with computing may only be about what’s on the outside, not what’s on the inside. This may not seem that important to those of us using iPads with no idea what goes on behind the sleek exterior. This type of user will have no interest in making the next big thing in computing. But if they don’t, who will? – Where will the maker of the next revolution in computing come from if no one learns about computing? Aside from the fact they may limit the future of computer design, are the apps powering tablets providing you with less choice? Essentially an app is a scaled down, quicker to use version of a fully fledged website or a search tool, designed to make our lives quicker and easier. But who’s to say I will get the full information I want by using an app? How do I know I that an app won’t miss something I could have spotted myself on a website? If the app I am using is a program, will that scaled down version compromise in quality? Tablets and apps may make our lives simpler and quicker, they may be easier to use, smaller and prettier than our current computers. But don’t forget that beauty is skin deep… Your computer is just as impressive on the inside… Do you agree that tablets and apps risk ‘dumbing down’ the next wave of computer users? Let us know…