How I Avoided a Meteorite Wiping Out My Career
This article describes my experience of significant waves of technological change during my career in software, and how I avoided getting wiped out like the dinosaurs.
Mainframes
My career started in the late 80s, developing mainframe computers, which were large, expensive, slow, and temperamental. Users would sit at terminals with the retro classic green text on black. You may have seen those classic tape reels spinning in old movies, whenever the director wants to show a computer ‘thinking’. But at the time, mainframes felt like the very latest in tech, because back then, they were.
However, by modern standards, these mainframes were like dinosaurs, and suffered a similar fate… Mainframes were wiped out, not by a meteorite, but by mass-produced silicon chips. These enabled a new generation of smaller, less expensive, but more capable computer, and the start of the trend of miniaturisation.
It was time for me to make my first job change.
Embedded Systems
We now take it for granted that our cars, TVs, washing machines, etc, have computers inside — so called ‘embedded-systems’. Back in the 90s, the trend of adding computing power to something that, outwardly, is not a computer, was being enabled by those same chips that had killed off mainframes.
I joined a company developing embedded systems — larger, expensive equivalents of the Raspberry Pi we have today. Then, in the late 90s, the World Wide Web exploded, and there was the exciting prospect of the Internet of Things — where every device was interconnected. So, I went ‘All In’, by switching to a company developing an operating-system for embedded systems.
That role was great, though the Internet of Things didn’t materialise in the way I hoped it would. Then, in the year 2000, the dot com bubble burst, and although not quite an extinction event, it was the equivalent of the Ice-Age across the whole industry. Our customers needed to cut costs, and the rise of Linux provided a free alternative when costs mattered most, even though our product was better. An icy wind blew through that business, and it was time to move again.
Smartphones
Affordable mobile phones had appeared in the late 90s, and by the early 2000s, these were getting smarter… smartphones, and just another form of embedded system, so this was my next wave to ride.
I joined Symbian, developing the operating-system used in over 50% of smartphones at the time. Our customers included Nokia, competing with Blackberry. Our lead seemed unassailable… except on 9th January 2007, the iPhone was announced, and it became apparent that the wave I was looking at was actually a tsunami crashing through our business. Existing smartphones, with their nasty keyboards, instantly looked outdated. The wipeout was fast. To compete with Apple, our customers switched to Android. Nokia acquired Symbian, but it was too little, too late. After 24 years in the industry, I experienced my first job redundancy. By 2013, Nokia had exited the mobile phone market entirely, something that would have been unthinkable just a few years earlier.
Mobile Apps
With the launch of the iPhone, Apple created the App Store, and there was a “gold rush” in app development.
I had an idea for an app, and I could fund myself for a few months using my redundancy pay out, so I felt compelled to give this a shot. This was actually the first time in my career that I’d developed an application — up until then I’d been developing computers in increasingly small form factors.
It soon became apparent that making a living via the App Store was a huge challenge. Most apps in the store were free or 99 cents, and when I discussed the development cost of an app with potential clients, their expectations were that these would be correspondingly low, rather than the thousands it actually costs. I managed to achieve a nice side hustle, but not a living.
I was then approached by some past colleagues to join their business developing an app that automagically connected smartphones to public WiFi hotspots …but then that business was wiped out by ever cheaper mobile data deals.
I’m now in web and mobile app development with a Digital Design Agency, and over 35 years into my career.
Lessons Learned
During my career, the relentless progression of technology has wiped out roles, businesses, even entire industries. Here are my survival lessons,
- No matter how much you believe a technology is here to stay, a disruptive technology can emerge very quickly — stay alert.
- Even if you correctly identify a technology wave, you can still very quickly find yourself in the wrong part of that. There is no room for complacency.
- Technology is temporary. What’s important to your career are your transferable skills: problem solving, adaptability, pragmatism, collaboration.
- Sitting still isn’t an option. Sometimes you’ll need to take risks, be that learning a new programming language, or even moving to a new industry.
- Computer Science is an academic field. Our employers are businesses within the software industry. You can’t avoid commercial realities.
- It’s not always the best technologies that win through, and even the best technologies can quickly become obsolete.
- Build a reputation for being easy to work with, getting things done, and adding business value. People will remember this. Never burn your bridges.
What’s Next?
Will AI advances be the next wave that disrupts our industry and transforms society? It certainly seems possible, but I’m optimistic that there will still be long careers available for people who are willing to adapt. And likewise, longevity for companies that do the same.
By heeding the lessons I’ve learnt along the way, I’ve always been in gainful employment, and had some absolutely brilliant life experiences.
Good luck with your own career, and enjoy the ride!
