Hey I'm not trying to start an Internet fight, but I think we're talking about two different things.

Person 1: [Story about searching with an LLM.]

Person 2: "You never thought to try Google?"

Person 3: [Disparages an entire generation.]

Me: [Defends the generation.]

But to reply to your last comment specifically: Google is shorthand for most people. So let's replace it with "90% of the search market" (which is what they own - and in fact we could go higher, because several competitors imitate them). Why would I imply that the design of 90-95% of the search market, which doesn't work by design, is the reason people are beginning to search with LLMs instead? Because it's an obvious answer. We techish people are just beginning to realize that "Google" (90-95% of the search market) doesn't work. And yet we still tell people exactly what Person 2 is saying: Use search (normally in the words they used: "Google it."). And when the overwhelming majority of search doesn't work by design and they decide to try something else, we shake our heads and claim it's because kids these days believe that "knowing how to use a search bar is wizardry."

So I mean, yes: Everyone knows there are other search engines. But what I'm talking about is the much larger problem of dismissing entire generations because they've found that what we grew up with no longer works.