Hi Calgary!
Each year in tech terms is like comparing dog years to human years. The leaps forward happen so quickly. Netscape changed everything. During graduate work in technology, what was available and taught in '95/'96 is a tiny nugget of what evolved by the time 2008 rolled around.
If one specializes in a specific area within technology, as most people do, then one spends their time learning about those specific technology areas.
Someone who has spent years to become an expert in VOIP technologies, voice networks and related, as an example, is not going to be a person who spends their time worrying about personal computer operating systems or the innards of browser technology. They use the OS and browser, as any tool would be used, but they're not engineering or reverse-engineering those systems.
Keeping it in perspective, internet was developed in the 1990s. What was offered (internet wasn't "taught") at some universities at that time was a small nugget of what was available 20 years later in 2008. Brad should have had a clear understanding of computer guts, memory, how things work, and how not to plant evidence of murder ... especially a 41 second search to hide a body for three days. It sounds like her body was not found for three days ... and all it took was 41 seconds to find this perfect hiding spot.