I always had the same perception growing up. When an older relative asked me to fix the TV settings or something, I had no idea what I was doing. I just clicked things that sounded reasonable until something worked out.
It's almost impossible to to mess one of these devices up (other than malware) for good, but I think most people who are not very technology literate see them as precariously balanced items that crumble at the slightest touch.
Yes bricking them is hard. But as we grow older we like to have things as recall them, as that reduce cognitive load. But TVs etc are crap at reverting to last good state (as defined by user, not OEM or some automagical system).
Also, last thing you want is for it to be stuck in some "useless" state when it is needed...
I believe that's what drives comments like "kids these days are so good at technology". When archetypal Aunt Tilly looks at somebody younger using a computer, she sees that they do not hesitate when navigating around, quickly clicking on everything that appears.
However, that doesn't always mean they know what they are doing. They're simply much more comfortable trying and hoping that it won't end badly. (Or at least not badly in a way that they can recognize, until someone tells them that their computer is full of malware.)