Don’t Assume The Millennial Is Tech Savvy

The effortless technical proficiency of millennials, the generation that grew up with computers, phones, games, etc., is largely a myth, according to attorney-consultants Darth Vaughn and Casey Flaherty. “Survival is the threshold most people achieve with most technology,” they write. “All the statistics we have suggest that very few features on smartphones, smart cars, smart TVs, or smart toasters are ever used by most consumers.” The authors say that when they guest-lecture in law school classes, they find only about a third of students are capable of performing basic operations in Word that older lawyers handle routinely. The myth of the millennial digital native is a problem, according to the authors, among other reasons because it tends to diminish the emphasis on training and obscure the fact that achieving proficiency in useful technologies “requires deliberate practice outside our comfort zone.”