I used 13 different programming languages professionally. C was my favorite, followed by C#, and Visual FoxPro. Assembler was fun. I started with 4 bit and ended up with 64 bit. BASIC was my least favorite. As long as there is a Bill Gates, there will be some version of BASIC.
My first computer was an S-100 (8" floppy disks), followed by IBM PC's and Apple products. I remember in 1982 when I bought my first hard disk, 10 M. Everyone said to me: "What are you going to do with all that storage space"?
I knew and worked with many of the top people in technology. Some were despicable and some were outstanding human beings. As a consultant, I was treated as "a god". I solved problems quickly. As a full time employee, I was treated like a cog on a wheel. That was how people are treated here in Silicon Valley. As a full time employee at NUMMI, I solved problems that the H1B "experts" stated could not be done. If you are over 40 in this valley, you will have a difficult time finding employment. Surely, everyone over 40 has no value, nor do they have the ability to contribute anything worthwhile. Just contact the nearest HR Department of any company in my area.
I worked at 12 different programming "houses". Several went out of business, and I left before they closed their doors in each case. One place I worked at had me create a new version of their main and only application. It was far from ready, but coming along well. The president of the company told the customer service and sales departments to tell anyone who called, to not purchase a new or upgraded program, as in six months we would be releasing a new version. Guess what happened? No sales caused the company to close. I had warned management about what happened to George Morrow, making such an announcement.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect
At one place we went through great pains to define what a new application would include. We had 8 programmers on the project. Management would set specific dates for "deliverables", and our SQA (Software Quality Assurance) department would test every possible element of the progress. Then at the last moment, some sales type would go to the president/owner and say he promised a customer (hospital) some features we did not have. So we kept the same delivery date, and had to add functionality by working overtime (with no compensation). Working 20 hour days, seven days a week, for months at a time is not fun, but I often did this while working as a programmer.
As I look back at SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, and so many others, I truly can say that I am happy to have retired. I often look at all my computer programming and technical books, and want to donate them to the library. It must be stated that these are collectors items, as technology changes every week. I lost my zest for keeping ahead of the crowd. It was fun, I had an absolute passion for it (hardware and software), and I was able to put our son and daughter through college, and they have good jobs. Now it is my time, and you all know where you can go, and I will gladly tell you how to get there!
If you don't know what I mean, send me a PM!
Tom