@b43fa85e I somewhat disagree that tech literacy is rising.

If you point to a "smart" lightbulb and you call it an Internet-connected computer, most people will deny it and then say you're stupid.  To them, its just a lightbulb that can listen to their special app.

As the outcry of Twitter users against fedi being too complicated shows, awareness of domain names is not something they want, if they can help it.  They want to replace semantics with candy icons, replace websites with apps, replace standards with monopolistic brands.

The allergic reaction to domain names is a bad warning sign.  People are like this because IT pros and academics, despite worrying about them on a daily basis, forget or refuse to fold basic awareness of domains (and hence PKI and basic security) into their outreach and courses.  Their thoughts about what the public should know are now dominated by possible consumer trends and the VC money they could get in exploiting them.

What we should have are computer scientists who are willing to at least define what the irreducible complexity is for using computers in secure, privacy-respecting ways, and stop trying to sell people on "cool" shortcuts. 

 @b43fa85e 
Well said. I think it’s been obvious for a while that there’s a trade off between convenience and privacy/security. Most people, even very intelligent friends and family, choose the former. I think it’s reinforced by a herd mentality. Nearly everyone else is using chrome, gmail, macOS, windows, etc, they feel validated in their choice.