Is Early Exposure To Computers Good For Kids?

dmatos asks: "I share a house with a family. One son is 13 years old, and has been playing with computers for his entire life. However, that's all he's been doing, is playing computer games. Recently he was given the chance of getting a new computer, and the family asked for my help in choosing it. While talking with this boy, I found out that he didn't even know the difference between RAM and HDD, despite over 5 years exposure to computers and being in grade 8. Later, he had trouble installing his favourite games because the GUI installation programs started talking about things like drivers etc. and he was worried about continuing. How beneficial is early exposure to computers for today's youth, considering what most of them use it for? Are there any programs/books that you can recommend for someone who spends a lot of time playing on them, but hasn't the slightest clue as to how they work? And do you think that early exposure is overrated?" While I'm all for getting kids to use computers at an early age, even if it's just to play games or write a paper, I wonder if it's necessary for a child in the 8th grade to know the difference between RAM and a hard drive. Wouldn't it be better to train them on the basic use of the machines and have them get the details later in their education?