This, once more, is not about the technology. It’s about having to work hard at learning and using new stuff, progressing slowly and creating something crummy the first few times you try, overcoming the embarrassment and self-criticism until practice makes less imperfect, wishing that someday it would come naturally.

I believe people who have mastered a language or a musical instrument (or piloting?) have figured something out about learning that makes this easier. When I’m in Texas I get tired sometimes of people saying they wish they could learn to speak Spanish like me –as if it’s a switch I just decided to turn on– when I’ve been doing it for 35 years, and I’m still working on it. The people who see you enjoying your skill often don’t even think about what it took for you to get there.

What a surprise to find out that, to use even a word processor or email well, you’ve got to think harder about what you’re doing, figure stuff out and learn dozens of mini-skills that were never necessary in the days of typewriters. If people aren’t braced for that learning curve, the challenge might be too much for them, and they’ll never even get to the “this blows my mind!” stage.