Digital Natives, Immigrants and Idiots

I was discussing with a Generation X person (38 years old) his capabilities with technology and especially social media.  He defined himself as a "digital immigrant,"  which I think is a terrific term for anyone past Generation Y who are typically classified as digital natives.  Think of it this way, babies born today will not know a time when you did not have video voice calling.  I expect one of my grand kids will eventually ask me, "Gramps, how was it in the old days?"

Then I was sharing this idea of digital immigrant with "a friend" who offered another classification of people, "digital idiots."  We had a good laugh about that, since we both have felt that way at times.  For instance, I just "upgraded" my wife's Surface Pro 3 to Windows 10.  She's asking me, "Where did all my documents go?  I don't know, I don't know.  The documents should not have gone anywhere--but, hmm, can't seem to find them in "documents" under Word.  I'm sure they will "turn up" somewhere in the future.

Back to this idea of us being digital immigrants.  If you think about it, that is how we feel--like immigrants.  People are speaking a foreign language and your ability to communicate and be productive is being held back because it is not only the language, but those devices that are in your hand, in your lap, and on your desk.  They have many more useful purposes than just "typing" and email.  

I think I need to find a "digital as a second language" class I can attend to be better able to keep up with these digital natives who are in the process of taking over.