Nowadays we have satellite imagery and surveillance and local informants and guided missiles and drones with pinpoint precision and despite that every now and then a school gets bombed because someone mistook it for an army HQ. Back then it was guesswork and 'spray and pray'.They honestly didn't know how well the bombs would work. It was all theory. People really didn't care about civilian lives during WW2. Look how much the German cities got razed.
"We're carpet bombing Dresden today."
"What are we hoping to hit?"
"Dresden."
Worse than indiscriminate, really. Civilian buildings were made of traditional meterials, wood and paper. Military installations and factories were brand new and made of modern concrete and resistant to fire. "Firebomb everything, whatever is left standing is a military building so we know what to aim for next time."I guess you haven't read about the firebombings that the US did on Japan then. It was definitely indiscriminately and bombed everything and everyone.