Myth: Young People Know All About Computers

Use Better Tools to Be a Better Student in 2010 :
"Despite the proliferation of laptops and netbooks, the vast majority of students still use their computers like $500 typewriters. Stop working so hard and be a better student by leveraging some clever computer tools to your advantage."
"Every semester I get a new wave of college freshman into my classroom, most of them armed with laptops. For the last several semesters, I have been informally tracking how they use their computers. I always assumed that my students were using their computers to their full potential to help them with school, research, and such, but almost all of them were simply using their laptops as extremely expensive typewriters and instant-messaging terminals.
What good is all the computing power of the pre-1960s world sitting on your lap if you're not using it to make college life easier? The following is a guide for students everywhere that want to spend less time on the tedious stuff, and more time on the things like study and research that actually produce results."

Here's an interesting article about college freshmen and their limited computer abilities.

I've always maintained that in general, people young and old, are not as computer savvy as the media and computer makers think they are. I can't tell you how many people I've run across who tell me they are puzzled by the fact that they are proficient with computers at work, but when they use their home computer they're lost. They don't understand that the work computers run specialized programs geared specifically to their jobs, but their home computers are loaded down with generalized computer programs that they have to figure out how to apply to daily chores.

I'm reminded of a comment made by one of our local weather forecasters, Pati Darak Weather On The Ones, about a new laptop she just purchased:
“You'd think that when the laptop showed up it would do what I want, not what its programmed to do.”

So don't feel to bad about your perceived limited computer skills, most people only know a fraction of the capabilities today's modern computers offer. They're capable of doing a hell of a lot more than just email, web browsing, twittering and face booking.