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I 100% agree with the spirit of the article! As an X-Gen, I remember as a kid the first computer I ever saw was a ZX-80! You could do 'stuff' with those early
by firecall 3y ago
I 100% agree with the spirit of the article!
As an X-Gen, I remember as a kid the first computer I ever saw was a ZX-80!
You could do 'stuff' with those early computers, and Basic was great and all, but the early days of the Web really opened up exploration for me.
As a solo developer it suddenly provided opportunities to work commercially without having to have a computer science background and be a very serious C++ developer.
These days I see my kids exploring programming through Minecraft Java Edition. They also create and make 3D printed toys and objects in software I could never have dreamed of. They also create and edit their own YouTube movies, again things I never dreamed of being able to do.
So whilst early tech opened up possibilities to explore creativity, the options were limited in many ways.
Now the entire world of creative exploration no longer has gatekeepers.
The explosion of the App Store genuinely opened up opportunities through tools like xCode and globally distribution that individuals never had before.
Similarly, you can be a movie maker, photographer, App Developer, 3D artist, and producer of 3D Printed Widgets, and you don't need to ask anyone's permission.
It's not a perfect world, but it's still good for creators.
Just that maybe it doesn't all seem as exotic as it once did in the 80s and 90s!
Edit: One thing missing today is the easy ability to play with commercial software without a license. Back in the day you just needed the file and a serial number.
Many schools provide licenses to Adobe software and more, so that's good.
And I suppose lots of software has a free Cloud version, or a limited trial. So its not all bad these days.
But I can recall preparing for interviews by finding a copy of some software and then playing with it on my own computer. That's riskier these days as you may end up turning your computer into a Crypto Mining device LOL