Commentary, opinion and practical advice on life in tech. And occasionally life in general.
Sometimes it's my perspective from four decades in the industry. Sometimes it's other people's views from interviews and research. Sometimes it's both.
Life can be tough. Life can be great. Life in tech can be either, often on the same day.
Sometimes that website launch or product release can feel like the most important thing in the world. That's when it helps to remember — we're not saving babies here.
Unless you actually are saving babies. In which case, feel free.
I first came across computers in 1981 at the age of 14. My high school was trialling a new subject called Computer Studies and were asking for volunteers. I had no idea what it was, but if I did it, I could drop French. Easy decision.
I was hooked immediately.
The school had one computer, a Research Machines 380Z. I wrote my first BASIC program on it. My mum bought me a Commodore 64 and I taught myself 6502 Assembly Language out of a book and learnt to write games. A Computer Science degree followed, then my first job at IBM Scientific and Research Centre. A 35 year career in tech after that.
I retired in 2023. Burnt out and disillusioned. I'd lost my mojo for technology completely.
Then something unexpected happened. I started playing with tech the way I hadn't enjoyed since I was a teenager, writing CBM64 assembly apps, building Unity games, exploring what AI tools could actually do. I spent a lot of time writing. Just for me, not to publish. Because I love to write and it helped organise my thoughts.
I feel energised about tech again. And I want to write about it from a perspective that's genuinely rare, someone who was there at the start, and someone no longer working in the industry. It's very hard to be objective about an industry when that industry is paying your bills.