Forty Years in Tech
Forty years is a long time, and I am guessing that some of you were not even born all those years ago. For me, this year is my fortieth with technology.
Hard to believe. One: that something captivates you for so long, and Two: that there was accessible technology all those years ago! haha
I was inspired by a post by Susam, recounting twenty-five years in Computing. It's eloquently written and the little details recollected really add to the post.
For me, my memory is less focused. I wish I could crank up the deepest parts of my brain to retrieve some good stories of my own journey.
David's Digital Digest
My journey into technology started in 1986 when I was sixteen. My neighbour's father was a Business Studies lecturer and was enthusing about the introduction of computers into business. It interested me. He also had a home-computer(!) -- a BBC Micro B. I was fascinated and would pop in to their house and play with it. After a few months I was very lucky and my parents bought me my own computer. I was not a gamer (and never did become one), but I wanted to understand how the computer worked. I quickly delved into BBC Basic programming and I was hooked.
The following year (1987) I graduated high-school (I don't think we called it that -- left, seems correct). I applied for a degree course in computing as I had no idea what else to do at 17 year's old.
The three year course was a breeze and I aced everything -- I had clearly found my niche.
Back then you had access to a main-frame computer for programming. Unbelievable as it sounds, time on the mainframe was occasional. Most of the time, you hand-wrote your code on specially laid-out paper forms. You handed these into the 'ladies in the computer room'. They would type those into the main-frame, run the code, and print out the results. You got the paper results in your own tray in a big wooden cabinet. Any errors? Re-write, and return to the ladies
In the second year many more terminals arrived so we could book time in the computer rooms and actually code and run our own work, live!
So much changed in those three years. We also gained access to individual computers (PCs) running PC-DOS, MS-DOS or CP/M. I was young enough to miss the punched-card revolution (lol), but we did use massive 8-inch floppy disks for a while, before moving on to 5¼-inch, and finally 3½-inch. You could store a huge 1.2MB on an 8-inch beast. That was actually a lot of space for text-only computing.
Fast Forward
Since 1990 I've seen it all. I'd say the biggest thing has to be the internet. Looking back, it's amazing how much it has changed: How we used to access it. What was available. What came and went. What has stuck. And now, how toxic much of it is. I see the same roller-coaster for AI.
And now?
For 40 years technology has been my life and career. It provoked me; stimulated me; provided a great living. I've supported it, taught it, developed it, and fought with it! Most of all, I have enjoyed every minute of it.
Two years ago I made a life-changing decision to change my career. At 54 I needed to prove I could do something else with my brain. If you are interested, I wrote briefly about it under Changing my Career in 2024.
I'm happy where I've been, and what I am now doing. I still consider myself a technologist -- it's hard coded into me. Every day I continue to read, experiment, and develop with tech but it's a hobby now, mostly! I still offer my tech advice free to small businesses. I've worked in massive Corporates and ran huge teams. I want to pass on my knowledge to the little guys & gals trying to get on in their own businesses.