Nice to see the ol' Vic 20 again (my first computer too).

What inspired me to become a programmer was a general disdain for what was being achieved and how hard it was for me to achieve what I felt was a sub-par level. Software development at the time did not deliver what I thought it could and yet was a major challenge in both skills and effort. I still think that this holds true but that we are continually raising the bar.

My problem starting out in the early 80s was that games were all the rage and they didn't offer me the problems that I wanted to solve (or at least that's what I thought). I attempted to provide solutions to made up problems to satisfy my human desires. Of course, I have stopped that now. Some appear not to have done (this is not a subtle dig at innovative products but is a blindingly obvious dig at internal development teams who develop what they want then try to force it on users)