Culture Gen Z struggling to use “old” office equipment like copy machines, printers, and scanners

From ancient printers to stubborn scanners, office machines are giving gen Z serious tech shame

Scanners, printers and photocopying machines are confusing the touch-screen generation, as they come face to face with archaic offices.

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Gen Zers like myself are finally entering the workforce. And while we’ve all quickly adapted to the office’s specific brand of oat milk, and the best bike route, what our generation of chronically-online, social media-savvy employees weren’t accounting for, is all of the ghastly and archaic technology left over from the 90s and early 00s.

I’m of course talking about machines like the daunting and imposing photocopier, or the printer that sits neglected, making whirring noises as though it’s threatening to explode every time someone reaches for the ‘on’ button.

Moving away from the safety and comfort of a Google Docs link or an AirDrop is a genuinely scary step to take when approaching your new office job. And apparently, this is a genuine symptom of a generation that has been praised as ‘tech-savvy’ and ‘digitally native’ their whole lives. Sure, content creators like Corporate Natalie help the transition, but it’s not always a smooth ride.


Garrett Bemiller, a 25-year-old New Yorker who works as a publicist, told The Guardian that “things like scanners and copy machines are complicated,” and shared that the first time he had to copy something in the office, he found himself having to reattempt several times. Luckily, veteran office workers quickly came to his aid.

Sarah Dexter, associate professor of education at the University of Virginia, told the publication that “there is a myth that kids were born into an information age, and that this all comes intuitively to them.” In reality, we’re not the all-knowing tech gods that so many millennials and gen Xers expect us to be—we still need to be taught how to use things.

The main difference is that we were brought up in an age of extreme user-friendly tech. There is a certain degree of intuitiveness that comes from being so familiar with the internet and apps, but this doesn’t always translate to a long stagnant office culture dynamic—one that seems to so often be living in the past.

Desktop computing is far less instinctive than the mobile, social world that gen Zers roam. It’s true that loud office computers and dense file systems are daunting for the information age.

This one is somewhat embarrassing, but a lot of us don’t seem to understand buttons either. You can’t swipe this computer screen open, as one Reddit user had to make evidently clear with the implementation of a sticker to point out the ‘on’ switch on-screen:

​

The struggle to adapt to the office environment was given a name by tech giant HP in a survey from November 2022. Dubbed ‘Tech Shame’ by the company, the research found that young people were far more likely to experience embarrassment over tech illiteracy or even a dodgy Wi-Fi connection than their more mature peers.

Debbie Irish, HP’s head of human resources in the UK and Ireland told WorkLife that the amount of shame younger colleagues experience may be a result of things like a lack of disposable income to afford better hardware and internet, versus older more seasoned employees, who are more likely to have higher wages. This divide between the old and the new may be why quiet quitting was such a prevalent trend in 2022.

Hybrid working is part of the problem, and needless to say, our time out of the office as a result of the global pandemic (remember that?) have made office tech seem even more alien to us.

Accessibility is taken for granted today thanks to the apps we find ourselves trapped in. Max Simon, corporate life content creator, told The Guardian that “it takes five seconds to learn how to use TikTok, you don’t need an instruction book, like you would with a printer.”

There is a clear divide between our paperless tech literacy and the physical machines we may encounter in our office jobs. We’ve been made shy because of the emphasis that is placed on us as tech-savvy, when in reality, we just know how to use google to solve our problems. It won’t be long before AI has us all out of the door anyway.

 

[WelperHelper99]

You are LITERALLY killing the environment, you BIGOTED WHITE MALE scum. Greta Thunberg would not be proud

And I'd fuckin do it again. I will not give up my second hand Canadian lawn mower, Honda weed wacker, fuck off. But the Milwaukee battery leaf blower is pretty nice for a normal lawn/ kids summer buisness, ngl

 

[Super Sad Smile]

Has anyone else experienced the zoomers who are obsessed with pc specs and hardware but can't figure out how to use basic software like excel or installing adblock? I feel like my gen genuinely can't understand anything before the 2000s, not just technology.

 

[Bork Laser]

One thing I will say, though, is that drivers are the killer of printers. HP makes a universal driver for ALL of their printers, but i'm not sure if all companies do that. Private Linux distros are able to pick up printers off networks, but businesses use custom operating systems, private ones, and ancient relics (LTS Windows). Funtimes.

Most companies(Kyocera, HP, Konica, Xerox, etc) drivers actually do have universal drivers. The issue is if you use them, you might miss out on extra functionalities the main driver will give you. But even then installing drivers are easy. Really all you need to do have a computer on the same network as the printer and the installation program and boom done. Sometimes you do have to jimmy rig it though, especially if someone is using a really old operating system(I ran into a doctor still using Window 98 once) and that is a fucking pain.

 

[Dysnomia]

Gotta read this because I couldn't believe they meant what I thought they meant... but it did. And I can see why. One of the first things that shocked me when I first used a smartphone is that it won't allow you access to certain files.

Zoomers rely on pre determined files that the os will show you: pictures, videos, documents, and a few more. If they want to change something, they get an app for it. Whenever I wanted to configure my PC with new fonts or whatever, just add stuff in the respective system files. With mobiles, you need an app to do so.


They've become like certain boomers who are afraid of touching any button because they fear the gadget could break down. Same vibes, lol.

I was trapped on a tablet for two years due to my computer dying. It was a nice tablet and all. But I could not stand Android. You need an app for everything. You don't even get basic bitch programs like Notepad or Paint. You have to hunt around forever to find an app that doesn't have ads or want access to your camera and a bunch of other stuff it shouldn't need just to let you jot down some notes in .txt or unzip a file. Bet they don't know how to zip or unzip either.

Smartphones are just dumbcomputers. When everything is an app and you don't have to learn more than "tap icon receive function" you are no better than boomers. At least some of them had computers in the 70s and kept up with tech.

 

[WelperHelper99]

Has anyone else experienced the zoomers who are obsessed with pc specs and hardware but can't figure out how to use basic software like excel or installing adblock? I feel like my gen genuinely can't understand anything before the 2000s, not just technology.

Hardware is like cars, tons of cool numbers, and once you understand what plugs in where, not too difficult. I admit my Excel skills are lacking but my job also does not require that level of autism, though I have had past training in school; how much I remember is a different story. As for adblock, I just install Brave onto every laptop I get, helps a shit ton. Know a few zoomers my age that have Brave. Younger zoomers on the other hand... I have seen first hand their lack of basic skills such as Microsoft Office, but they were also farm kids from my trade school days still using dial up until Musk came out with Starlink (not a joke, dial up still lives).

 

[Secret Asshole]

I've also noticed that they treat machines like crap or that they're indestructible. The biggest problem is that a lot of them are stuck on closed systems like iPads and iPhones which strictly control what you're allowed to do. So when you've got a laptop or a massive copy machine meant for 3,000 people, they lose their shit. Because these 'walled gardens' don't teach shit. They're extremely safe.

With ChatGPT things will only get worse. I tried ChatGPT and it is fucking terrifying, but it is honestly a good baseline if you have trouble writing and you can get ideas for it. AI is a super useful supplement, but it should remain that way.

Like you've got filters for pictures now and shit. Things that take actual skills are being eaten alive by garbage with instant gratification, so long-form, difficult tasks are going to become more difficult. I can't even imagine how the "I FUCKING LOVE SCIENCE" crowd would run an 8 hour or 6 hour experiment where you have to be active and thinking for every part of it or you could fuck it up. Or troubleshooting in that experiment on the fly without an instruction manual and no time to use Google or ChatGPT to help you.

Its not just that they don't know how to use it, its that they don't even have the basic problem solving skills to try. They've regressed as a generation because they're addicted to those dopamine hits and don't even want to bother learning. And nobody is making them learn either.

I think that's the real problem, incuriosity. Its not that they don't know things, its that they don't know things and don't bother learning them. Why learn art if you can let AI do it for you? Nevermind improving your mental acuity, hand-eye coordination and even progressing beyond what an AI can produce. Its too hard. Why bother learning how something works when you can whine about it or some new unnecessary startup will take care of it for you?

 

[A Sentient Cloud]

Is there any generation that's renowned for their collective ability to use office equipment?

 

[WelperHelper99]

I've also noticed that they treat machines like crap or that they're indestructible. The biggest problem is that a lot of them are stuck on closed systems like iPads and iPhones which strictly control what you're allowed to do. So when you've got a laptop or a massive copy machine meant for 3,000 people, they lose their shit. Because these 'walled gardens' don't teach shit. They're extremely safe.

With ChatGPT things will only get worse. I tried ChatGPT and it is fucking terrifying, but it is honestly a good baseline if you have trouble writing and you can get ideas for it. AI is a super useful supplement, but it should remain that way.

Like you've got filters for pictures now and shit. Things that take actual skills are being eaten alive by garbage with instant gratification, so long-form, difficult tasks are going to become more difficult. I can't even imagine how the "I FUCKING LOVE SCIENCE" crowd would run an 8 hour or 6 hour experiment where you have to be active and thinking for every part of it or you could fuck it up. Or troubleshooting in that experiment on the fly without an instruction manual and no time to use Google or ChatGPT to help you.

Its not just that they don't know how to use it, its that they don't even have the basic problem solving skills to try. They've regressed as a generation because they're addicted to those dopamine hits and don't even want to bother learning. And nobody is making them learn either.

I think that's the real problem, incuriosity. Its not that they don't know things, its that they don't know things and don't bother learning them. Why learn art if you can let AI do it for you? Nevermind improving your mental acuity, hand-eye coordination and even progressing beyond what an AI can produce. Its too hard. Why bother learning how something works when you can whine about it or some new unnecessary startup will take care of it for you?

The incuriosity is real across every field. I'll use welding as a example, using the Flextech 500 (a marvelous machine) as a example

Click on it to zoom in. To you and most welders, you see a brick with a few simple knobs to adjust amperage and voltage and switch processes. Because my instructors in trade school were forward thinking, they told us things. I see a machine with over 500 specialized programs locked inside. My generation it feels just want to push the buttons and go, do it the hard way, even if the machine itself offers a much simpler solution to the problem. Impatient, just wants to hit the gas and go instead of taking it slow, learning.

 

[Tasty Tatty]

Smartphones are just dumbcomputers. When everything is an app and you don't have to learn more than "tap icon receive function" you are no better than boomers. At least some of them had computers in the 70s and kept up with tech.

Smartphones are "smart" because they do the thinking. Basic smartphones for normies are ok because most normies aren't tech savvy and they just want a gadget that takes pics, stores memes, and send messages to other people. To be fair, that's what smartphones should have only been able to do. "Alexa, call mom". There. That's very helpful when you do other stuff, whether at work or at home. I personally think it's great I can do all my cooking while I can ask the phone to call someone while my hands are busy.

Thing is, people consume them because they make you feel smart and "modern". Look at any tablet or smartphone ad and they show you professionals doing big stuff on their mobiles. Not even a ipad, but a small tablet... I've worked doing diagrams and design and I couldn't do that on a tablet. A laptop, sure, but to me, it's way more comfortable doing it on PC. Normies really think that because they own phones that do more than enough for their normie needs, they can use them for all. Why does a housewife who only sends boomer memes needs a Galaxy Flip phone? That's like me buying myself a big ass truck to go to work despite I only work three blocks from my house.

Its not just that they don't know how to use it, its that they don't even have the basic problem solving skills to try. They've regressed as a generation because they're addicted to those dopamine hits and don't even want to bother learning. And nobody is making them learn either.

That's basically the problem for normies that I mentioned above. They don't use their phones to solve small tasks related to communication, but they use them for everything to the point they can't do anything not-related in real life.

And they don't realise how much they are reshaping society for the worse. Many times I've tried to call tech support or assistance for something because I've needed to talk with a human and they don't have that any more. It's either a chat bot that has no idea how to solve the problem or they straight up send you info via whatsapp, info that you don't need. If you really have a problem, there is no human to talk to you and they think this is a modern approach to online communication. No wonder they all have "anxiety" when their skills don't even include talking to people.

Is there any generation that's renowned for their collective ability to use office equipment?

Gen X are in general comfortable using all type of gadgets. There is a difference between being mad because the equipment doesn't work (because this implies you know how it should work, it just doesn't do it) and being mad because you can't make it work due to you lacking the ability to operate it. That's pretty much the main difference between Gen X and Z.

 

[Slav Power]

A large portion of Gen Z was mostly raised on smartphones and easy to use social media apps designed for accessibility to appeal to the mass market. It's not surprising that the previously perceived "tech savvy" broad characteristics of the generational cohort in reality fits in a very narrow criteria.

With that said it is inevitable some technology will become obsolete and forgotten gradually. Some stuff in this article comes down to the fact a lot of individuals don't really know how to interact with things only really used in offices since they have never worked in one before.

That is probably one of the many reasons it's like it is. If you have a Gen Z that was born in the US to a fairly wealthy family, they probably bought him an iPhone around when it first came out and never had a need to use anything else, leading to him get completely brainfucked and not knowing how to use a computer.

I'm a Y2K baby that was born and raised in a small and meaningless post-Soviet shithole that is Poland. And my very first contact with technology was an old used Windows 98 FE laptop with a broken CD drive. I would draw stupid shit in MS Paint and save it on floppy drives, or even copy games shortcuts thinking they were full games on them. I copied some small game .exe's on those too.

I didn't have Internet access until 2009 and I didn't have a smartphone until I was in my teens. All my childhood revolved around PC's. Whether it be that Win98 laptop, an old Win2k system or a home WinXP system that was shared with the whole family. So I pretty much always had contact with computers, and I was also curious about them, what I can do with them and so on.

I remember that at school we would have IT classes where we learned how to do things on computers, and that the IT teacher in primary school used this thing called Total Commander that made me curious. Curious to the point where nowadays it's the most important piece of software to install on a computer for me. I also remember figuring out how to get admin access to the library computers so I could do more shit on them. I usually accomplished it by the fact that the IT teachers would trust me when doing something on them, so I could make a new admin account when I could to then abuse it for my own needs.

Back in 2011 I managed to figure out how to get pirated Minecraft, and how to mod it. And the home PC only had a 20GB hard drive so I was slinging all my shit over USB drives, which is how I've managed to save a lot of old data to this day. And around 2013 I learned how to torrent games, and I finally installed GTA:SA from a HOODLUM ISO and learned how to mod that. I learned how file systems work, how file management work, how archivers work, how everything worked, and when I was curious about something, I took my time to figure it out. Like emulating old consoles or using MS-DOS for emulating old games.

I only really got a smartphone when I was a teenager, and before that my phones were the old school bar phones with T9 keyboards. I also learned how to install pirated J2ME games on those, and even when I had a smartphone, I never treated it as a replacement for the home PC. Hell, I despise browsing the web on the phone to this day, and whenever I do have access to my PC, I do it on there.

I think the fact that for the vast majority of my childhood I grew up on PC's, I had an incentive to learn how they work so I could play games, that when I was curious about something I tried to learn how it works and how to set it up, and also that I never saw smartphones as a replacement to a computer, I didn't grew up to be a tech illiterate imbecile, and I actually have an idea of how technology works and how to figure it out on your own.

So if you're a parent and you have a young child, make sure they use the PC as much as they can compared to smartphones, and make sure they get curious about computers and how they work so they won't end up completely tech illiterate because they grew up on devices that were designed to be as idiot proof as possible.

 

[WelperHelper99]

I think the fact that for the vast majority of my childhood I grew up on PC's, I had an incentive to learn how they work so I could play games, that when I was curious about something I tried to learn how it works and how to set it up, and also that I never saw smartphones as a replacement to a computer, I didn't grew up to be a tech illiterate imbecile, and I actually have an idea of how technology works and how to figure it out on your own.

This is the reason really. I still remember playing Spore, MS paint, pinball, making stupid power points, because for half my childhood, smart devices didn't exist. It was entertaining as a kid to explore what they locked into the system. Now with phones, it's so easy, there's no incentive to look.

 

[Sargon's wife's son]

Most companies(Kyocera, HP, Konica, Xerox, etc) drivers actually do have universal drivers. The issue is if you use them, you might miss out on extra functionalities the main driver will give you. But even then installing drivers are easy. Really all you need to do have a computer on the same network as the printer and the installation program and boom done. Sometimes you do have to jimmy rig it though, especially if someone is using a really old operating system(I ran into a doctor still using Window 98 once) and that is a fucking pain.

Brother has the f****** worst drivers if you don't get this specific one for the model of printer you have a thing does not want to work and sometimes it decides it wants to work and sometimes it doesn't but when it works they're actually fantastic printers but the very temperamental
For my experience
Gen Z is Generation fail for a reason

 

[Eggplant Wizard]

Give them a manual and 4 hours to figure out how to use the printer, scanner, etc., or they’re fired.

Make sure the manual is entirely in cursive for maximum salt.

Profit.

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

Has anyone else experienced the zoomers who are obsessed with pc specs and hardware but can't figure out how to use basic software like excel or installing adblock? I feel like my gen genuinely can't understand anything before the 2000s, not just technology.

Worst i've heard is 20 somethings not knowing what a rar. file was. Winrar, literally never heard of it.

Some young adults have never used a desktop computer before until they find one at an office. Ironically you ask most teens and they say they want to be programmers or something tech related because memes, If they do pursue that at best their work will be copypasting premade stuff from github or asking chatgtp for a solution then having a panic attack if their code pasta craps out until someone older solves the problem. in the gay cyberpunk future where incompetent app users are the supermajority of the working force even toothbrushes will have backdoors.

 

[Snekposter]

That is probably one of the many reasons it's like it is. If you have a Gen Z that was born in the US to a fairly wealthy family, they probably bought him an iPhone around when it first came out and never had a need to use anything else, leading to him get completely brainfucked and not knowing how to use a computer.

I'm a Y2K baby that was born and raised in a small and meaningless post-Soviet shithole that is Poland. And my very first contact with technology was an old used Windows 98 FE laptop with a broken CD drive. I would draw stupid shit in MS Paint and save it on floppy drives, or even copy games shortcuts thinking they were full games on them. I copied some small game .exe's on those too.

I didn't have Internet access until 2009 and I didn't have a smartphone until I was in my teens. All my childhood revolved around PC's. Whether it be that Win98 laptop, an old Win2k system or a home WinXP system that was shared with the whole family. So I pretty much always had contact with computers, and I was also curious about them, what I can do with them and so on.

I remember that at school we would have IT classes where we learned how to do things on computers, and that the IT teacher in primary school used this thing called Total Commander that made me curious. Curious to the point where nowadays it's the most important piece of software to install on a computer for me. I also remember figuring out how to get admin access to the library computers so I could do more shit on them. I usually accomplished it by the fact that the IT teachers would trust me when doing something on them, so I could make a new admin account when I could to then abuse it for my own needs.

Back in 2011 I managed to figure out how to get pirated Minecraft, and how to mod it. And the home PC only had a 20GB hard drive so I was slinging all my shit over USB drives, which is how I've managed to save a lot of old data to this day. And around 2013 I learned how to torrent games, and I finally installed GTA:SA from a HOODLUM ISO and learned how to mod that. I learned how file systems work, how file management work, how archivers work, how everything worked, and when I was curious about something, I took my time to figure it out. Like emulating old consoles or using MS-DOS for emulating old games.

I only really got a smartphone when I was a teenager, and before that my phones were the old school bar phones with T9 keyboards. I also learned how to install pirated J2ME games on those, and even when I had a smartphone, I never treated it as a replacement for the home PC. Hell, I despise browsing the web on the phone to this day, and whenever I do have access to my PC, I do it on there.

I think the fact that for the vast majority of my childhood I grew up on PC's, I had an incentive to learn how they work so I could play games, that when I was curious about something I tried to learn how it works and how to set it up, and also that I never saw smartphones as a replacement to a computer, I didn't grew up to be a tech illiterate imbecile, and I actually have an idea of how technology works and how to figure it out on your own.

So if you're a parent and you have a young child, make sure they use the PC as much as they can compared to smartphones, and make sure they get curious about computers and how they work so they won't end up completely tech illiterate because they grew up on devices that were designed to be as idiot proof as possible.

You know shit's fucked when a fucking Pollack is smarter than you. Get rekt, Gen Z.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

I was trapped on a tablet for two years due to my computer dying. It was a nice tablet and all. But I could not stand Android. You need an app for everything. You don't even get basic bitch programs like Notepad or Paint. You have to hunt around forever to find an app that doesn't have ads or want access to your camera and a bunch of other stuff it shouldn't need just to let you jot down some notes in .txt or unzip a file. Bet they don't know how to zip or unzip either.

Smartphones are just dumbcomputers. When everything is an app and you don't have to learn more than "tap icon receive function" you are no better than boomers. At least some of them had computers in the 70s and kept up with tech.

I recommend putting F-Droid on that tablet. It has exactly what you were spending hours looking for.

 

[WelperHelper99]

Worst i've heard is 20 somethings not knowing what a rar. file was. Winrar, literally never heard of it.

Some young adults have never used a desktop computer before until they find one at an office. Ironically you ask most teens and they say they want to be programmers or something tech related because memes, If they do pursue that at best their work will be copypasting premade stuff from github or asking chatgtp for a solution then having a panic attack if their code pasta craps out until someone older solves the problem. in the gay cyberpunk future where incompetent app users are the supermajority of the working force even toothbrushes will have backdoors.

And this makes me sad. I don't do much PC gaming any more, but I still remember Minecraft, and I still have my guilty pleasure, World of Warships, which, I've seen the console versions, the interface looks like ass compared to PC, which you don't need crazy specs for, I just did when I built my old man's as a teenager and got over 70fps on moderate settings with pretty beefy ram and core and a admittedly weak card lol. Learning how to build a PC should be a required course, just taught my friend recently, it'll take you far and can make you a little money.

 

[derpherp2]

And this makes me sad. I don't do much PC gaming any more, but I still remember Minecraft, and I still have my guilty pleasure, World of Warships, which, I've seen the console versions, the interface looks like ass compared to PC, which you don't need crazy specs for, I just did when I built my old man's as a teenager and got over 70fps on moderate settings with pretty beefy ram and core and a admittedly weak card lol. Learning how to build a PC should be a required course, just taught my friend recently, it'll take you far and can make you a little money.

Even now I fuck around with rimworld mod sometimes and that's just basic xml.
It's quite literally not hard, a programming language is like any language you speak, just filled with more symbols.

Gen X and the older millenials cucked the Zoomers hard with taking computer literacy out of public education in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

They're as tech literate as the Boomers. The ones that are think they are gods for finding out where the calibration settings are on the office copy machine.

And get pissy when you pretend to not know what a jukebox is. lmao.

 

[WelperHelper99]

Even now I fuck around with rimworld mod sometimes and that's just basic xml.
It's quite literally not hard, a programming language is like any language you speak, just filled with more symbols.

And get pissy when you pretend to not know what a jukebox is. lmao.

I equate programing languages with blueprints. It's not in English, its symbols. Literally universal, other than the measurements of course, which can get confusing if you've been working in SAE (Inches, feet) for months then they throw a metric curveball at you. It's difficult at first, requires study, but once you get the hang of it, you can do your own shit. Same with coding like in your rimworld mod I assume?

 

[Pointing_Pink_Yoshi]

It’s because classes like BCIS are no longer part of the curriculum. (They are being brought back though because of this so there is a generation of zoomers who got screwed over) It seems like the big wigs at DoE thought that if children know how to use a smart phone they know how to do anything.

There is a generation of millennials who are actual “native language users” for technology basically it means that anyone who was in junior high from about 1990-2000 were taught the basic language of hardware and software and therefore can pretty much figure out where something is in a program or how to fix something because they had a foundational tech language taught to them.

Then smart phones and tablets broke the scene and I guess everyone thought that pushing a button was the equivalent of knowing how to operate something.