Computers and Software
Computers have always had a significant role in my life. They're part of my professional life and they are one of my hobbies. If you want to know more, just read ahead.
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The addiction...
The Early Days
I've always been into computers! I got my first computer at the age of 12. Compared to the standard desktop PC of today my first computer wasn't something to brag about. It was a Nascom-1 with a whooping 256 bytes of RAM and 8KB of ROM. It plugged into a black and white TV set and could barely show a steady picture on the tiny 12" screen. But it did the job - it got me hooked on computers. I spent numerous hours coding the 8 bit Zilog Z-80 processor in binary code, because there was no assembler which would fit the small amount of RAM.
8-bit Nirvana
A couple of years later, 8-bit computers became readily available in many shapes and forms. Especially the Sinclair ZX-machines were quite common and I've of course owned many of these machines. I started out on a ZX-81 and went all the way through most of the Spectrums, ending up with the ZX-Spectrum-III (which wasn't a genuine Sinclair machine after all, but a Dutch made Amstrad). Those early computers were solely aimed at the hobby market and generally used some kind of Basic language, besides low level machine code.
The First Standard Microcomputer OS
Today the term CP/M is not well known. But in the mid 70's and early 80's it was the operating system which dominated the microcomputer market. It was the first successful attempt to make a common platform for software developers and it ruled for more than a decade. Of course I had to follow down the road, so I got an Osborne-1, better known as the world's first suitcase sized portable computer. But it was a huge leap forward from the rather limited and home-user oriented Sinclair machines. It ran all the popular applications ranging from WordStar over SuperCalc to dBase-II. Together with CP/M came a large selection of programming languages so it was finally possible to do away with Basic and the low level machine code and explore the new worlds of Pascal, C and FORTRAN.
The Modern Days
I still work with computers. I mostly work on PC's in the Windows environment and it's a completely different game, compared to the early days. Many things have become a lot easier - one doesn't have to consider limited memory resources, low capacity disk drives and slow processors. So it's possible to develop applications I could only have dreamt about when I was sitting in front of my Nascom-1.
My job...
What I do for a living - the short version is that I develop computer
software - that's it!
To elaborate on the above, I have to go into greater detail: I am the
senior developer of the HELIOS accounting system, which is sold in
Scandinavia. The HELIOS system is aimed at the automotive industry and
is primarily used in repair shops and paint shops. It is often the only
piece of software used for running the entire business, so it has to be
fully featured and support the special needs of this particular branch.