"Putting the human face on the software that touches our lives ... while riding a great motorbike. Insane enough to work!" - From a friend on the Twitter-sphere
I have a dream... ok, that's probably a little too presumptuous and, given the current, very real civil rights challenges in the US and abroad possibly even in bad taste! But, well, I did have a dream...
Of a show where a bizarre combination of Charlie Boorman and Brian Cox (I am an less attractive version of both I think it's fair to say...) rides a great motorbike around to chat to some of the wonderful people behind the software that touches all our lives. During these travels, our intrepid hero (me!) will drink wine, meet and work with great companies, chat about software/bikes/cars/whatever, and really put a human face on that software that we all take for granted every day of our lives.
Ok, so maybe less a dream, but certainly a mission: I wanted to take software out of the dark closet of mystical technical magicians and into the public collective comprehension like a plunge pool after a sauna. We all 'use' software, but who are these lovely, crazy and, sometimes, downright entertaining and funny individuals behind it all? What did they feel when the created a tool that now millions use daily? What happened to them after they went boom, or bust? What was their biggest success, and the thing they regret the most...
This is the story that "Geek on a Harley" is going to tell. I'll be the 'Geek', and your tour guide, but the people, and the chats I have along the way, are the point. You'll never think the same about software again.
Software is not some mystical device of a technical elite, it's everywhere and it's created by some of the most interesting individuals I've ever met. And now I get to meet them and put their stories centre stage. What fun!
I also get to ride my own and rented Harley-Davidson motorcycles ... a lot ... how 'bad' can that possible be!
The "Geek on a Harley" tour and accompanying video blog is now a GO. Follow it here:
Of a show where a bizarre combination of Charlie Boorman and Brian Cox (I am an less attractive version of both I think it's fair to say...) rides a great motorbike around to chat to some of the wonderful people behind the software that touches all our lives. During these travels, our intrepid hero (me!) will drink wine, meet and work with great companies, chat about software/bikes/cars/whatever, and really put a human face on that software that we all take for granted every day of our lives.
Ok, so maybe less a dream, but certainly a mission: I wanted to take software out of the dark closet of mystical technical magicians and into the public collective comprehension like a plunge pool after a sauna. We all 'use' software, but who are these lovely, crazy and, sometimes, downright entertaining and funny individuals behind it all? What did they feel when the created a tool that now millions use daily? What happened to them after they went boom, or bust? What was their biggest success, and the thing they regret the most...
This is the story that "Geek on a Harley" is going to tell. I'll be the 'Geek', and your tour guide, but the people, and the chats I have along the way, are the point. You'll never think the same about software again.
Software is not some mystical device of a technical elite, it's everywhere and it's created by some of the most interesting individuals I've ever met. And now I get to meet them and put their stories centre stage. What fun!
I also get to ride my own and rented Harley-Davidson motorcycles ... a lot ... how 'bad' can that possible be!
The "Geek on a Harley" tour and accompanying video blog is now a GO. Follow it here:
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