Long Term Consequences

[itsananderson]

Actually, I think a month or so ago somebody said that of the three major CMS platforms, Joomla was Windows, WordPress was Apple, and Drupal was Linux. I think their point was that WordPress has done a lot to make their interface intuitive and esthetically pleasing.

I think there are ways in which WordPress can be compared to Linux as well. Not only is it open source, but it's relatively easy to extend and improve.

[Len]

Absolutely Will. Don't get me wrong, I'm not slagging WordPress. I've used every blog/CMS engine there is over the years and none can hold a candle to WP in my opinion.

My point is as the devs make everything easier and easier (which as I said is a good thing) WordPress will continue to attract more and more users - many of which don't know the first thing about running a DOT COM and for whatever reason are unwilling or unable to learn.

Obviously I'm not referring to the more technical users but I see many parallels between Windows and WP.

[Jeffro]

It sounds like the current problem with the school system in the U.S. Not being taught the right things and it dumbing down the population. Is WordPress dumbing down people to the point where even learning how to FTP into their site is ancient or difficult?

With regards to long term consequences, we could probably extend this conversation to the entire process of having an online presence. For instance, with Jeffro2pt0.com, thinking about just moving it all to jeffcme but I've signed up to so many things with a jeffro2pt0 email address, the move now would be a real pain.

[andrea_r]

Not being taught the right things and it dumbing down the population. Is WordPress dumbing down people to the point where even learning how to FTP into their site is ancient or difficult?

Mmm.. I see it more as not what people aren't being taught, but what they *are* being taught is what I called "the expert mentality".

Oh, you don't need to know how to do that - you need an expert. Plus they're being taught *not* to think but to rely on someone else.

I think it ties in with trying to bring topics down to everyone's level. When you do that, you DO wind up with it being almost idiot proof. And you know what they say about that.

"Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot".

Disclaimer: I'm one of them radial homeschoolers in a a branch called "unschooling". ;)