5 ms·

In the early 80s, my mom read in newspapers that computers were going to be the future. So she spent much of our meager savings on what was then a very expensiv

In the early 80s, my mom read in newspapers that computers were going to be the future. So she spent much of our meager savings on what was then a very expensive Apple IIe. Because she wanted opportunity for her children that she never had. That was quite a bet. Thanks Mom.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago
I don't know what compelled my dad to get our first PC in 1989 other than that it'd be cool, but he did it and plopped me behind it with a joystick and Paratrooper. I think he did a good there. (he may have been involved with computers before, iirc he mentioned MSX and the like, but that was before my time)
JKCalhoun 6y ago
Yeah, the U.K. saw what was happening across the pond and made the right call with the BBC Micro. It's both sweet and sad to me to read this woman's account of her childhood where the best thing to come into her families living room was a $99 Timex Sinclair. What a fortuitous decision her parents made while the rest of the neighborhood jumped on the cable TV bandwagon with their disposable income. (I suppose I should be sad for her neighbor kids instead.) I guess what I really want is for every child to have the same access to opportunities that this one (only barely) realized.
- throwaway894345 6y ago
  On the other hand, it seems sad that UK (as well as continental Europe for that matter) software industry wages seem to pale in comparison to wages in the US. I'm not really sure why that would be, even after accounting for things like healthcare and other social services. A bummer for American software professionals who are interested in moving abroad.
  - AdrianB1 6y ago
    I saw a lot of people in Europe with the mentality "I am not paying the cable guy that much money", even if the "cable guy" was a highly skilled software engineer that was building the core of the company. Europe is also more egalitarian, doctors are also paid less and progressive income taxes and other factors are shaming people into earning less.
    - estaseuropano 6y ago
      This! Payscales are simply not as extreme, neither at the bottom nor the top.
  - toast0 6y ago
    As a US person looking abroad, there seems to be a huge difference in the effort required to present as a business. UK doesn't seem quite as bad as say France, but there's a shortage of stories about how a person or small group was working for company A and was fed up with how their ideas were ignored and left to start their own company which thrived. Maybe people aren't having their ideas ignored in Europe. Maybe they're afraid to leave because there are inadequate social safety nets (wait). Maybe European ideas suck? Maybe it's too hard to start a business so lots of people don't; or they have an easier time leaving the country and starting a business in the US (which we'll call American success, even if it's founded and built by immigrants). Anyway, if that path was more feasible, businesses would need to pay more to encourage people to stay instead of going alone.
    - ghufran_syed 6y ago
      I’m an immigrant to the US - in my view, America is best thought of as a machine for turning other flavors of humans into Americans - the place really is inclusive in a way that I’ve never seen or heard of in any other country in the world. So calling it “American success” is not unreasonable, the secret is that you’re “an american” as soon as you get here and think of yourself as american. Compare that to England where I was born and grew up but people would laugh at you if you claimed to be “English” because you were brown. I know “immigrant thinks america is great and welcoming” doesn’t fit the “make you angry so you click and share” narrative currently present online with regards to immigration, but it certainly fits the lived experience of myself and many immigrants I know, both legal and illegal. [edit: forgot to write, I agree with you about the difficulty of starting a business in Europe vs the US, as well as maybe the cultural pressure in favor of running businesses in the US vs general attitude of discouragement in the UK. ]
      - vnxli 6y ago
        This was super encouraging to read. Thanks for sharing your experiences
    - user5994461 6y ago
      It's a simple difference of market size. The US has 300M people, the UK has 60M people. The UK market is not big enough to bear big successful companies (by HN and VC standards). The first thing a UK company has to do is extend to the US to be able to grow.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago

I don't know what compelled my dad to get our first PC in 1989 other than that it'd be cool, but he did it and plopped me behind it with a joystick and Paratrooper. I think he did a good there. (he may have been involved with computers before, iirc he mentioned MSX and the like, but that was before my time)

JKCalhoun 6y ago

Yeah, the U.K. saw what was happening across the pond and made the right call with the BBC Micro. It's both sweet and sad to me to read this woman's account of her childhood where the best thing to come into her families living room was a $99 Timex Sinclair. What a fortuitous decision her parents made while the rest of the neighborhood jumped on the cable TV bandwagon with their disposable income. (I suppose I should be sad for her neighbor kids instead.) I guess what I really want is for every child to have the same access to opportunities that this one (only barely) realized.

throwaway894345 6y ago
On the other hand, it seems sad that UK (as well as continental Europe for that matter) software industry wages seem to pale in comparison to wages in the US. I'm not really sure why that would be, even after accounting for things like healthcare and other social services. A bummer for American software professionals who are interested in moving abroad.
- AdrianB1 6y ago
  I saw a lot of people in Europe with the mentality "I am not paying the cable guy that much money", even if the "cable guy" was a highly skilled software engineer that was building the core of the company. Europe is also more egalitarian, doctors are also paid less and progressive income taxes and other factors are shaming people into earning less.
  - estaseuropano 6y ago
    This! Payscales are simply not as extreme, neither at the bottom nor the top.
- toast0 6y ago
  As a US person looking abroad, there seems to be a huge difference in the effort required to present as a business. UK doesn't seem quite as bad as say France, but there's a shortage of stories about how a person or small group was working for company A and was fed up with how their ideas were ignored and left to start their own company which thrived. Maybe people aren't having their ideas ignored in Europe. Maybe they're afraid to leave because there are inadequate social safety nets (wait). Maybe European ideas suck? Maybe it's too hard to start a business so lots of people don't; or they have an easier time leaving the country and starting a business in the US (which we'll call American success, even if it's founded and built by immigrants). Anyway, if that path was more feasible, businesses would need to pay more to encourage people to stay instead of going alone.
  - ghufran_syed 6y ago
    I’m an immigrant to the US - in my view, America is best thought of as a machine for turning other flavors of humans into Americans - the place really is inclusive in a way that I’ve never seen or heard of in any other country in the world. So calling it “American success” is not unreasonable, the secret is that you’re “an american” as soon as you get here and think of yourself as american. Compare that to England where I was born and grew up but people would laugh at you if you claimed to be “English” because you were brown. I know “immigrant thinks america is great and welcoming” doesn’t fit the “make you angry so you click and share” narrative currently present online with regards to immigration, but it certainly fits the lived experience of myself and many immigrants I know, both legal and illegal. [edit: forgot to write, I agree with you about the difficulty of starting a business in Europe vs the US, as well as maybe the cultural pressure in favor of running businesses in the US vs general attitude of discouragement in the UK. ]
    - vnxli 6y ago
      This was super encouraging to read. Thanks for sharing your experiences
  - user5994461 6y ago
    It's a simple difference of market size. The US has 300M people, the UK has 60M people. The UK market is not big enough to bear big successful companies (by HN and VC standards). The first thing a UK company has to do is extend to the US to be able to grow.