There's definitely some research on this, and from memory they confirm your observations. The older generation actually understands what might be inside your computer far more than the newer generation. The newer generation is so detached from what they are actually using, they have no idea.

As for this 'millennial' business, I think you can quite easily divide the cohort into conscious before they had access to the internet and vice-versa. This obviously varies between geographic regions, socio-economic status and a number of other factors, but from personal experience, there is a massive divide between the two.