What is your age? poses an interesting question, but the age categories had some room for improvement. So I thought that I would start a new poll with with a better distribution of age groups. As with the other poll, this is a public poll. People can click on the numbers to see who voted and for which option.
December 14, 2006 Update
I plan to keep this poll open after the year changes. So it will morph into a poll something like: "What was your age in 2006?" This will keep all of the votes on a level playing field. That's why I have added the years to the poll.
Perderabo! You're old! And it is absolutely amazing that you keep doing all these new and crazy things with systems (I would call an octuple boot laptop crazy). I wonder how old Jim (McNamara) is? In one old thread I remember him saying that he started his first job back in the sixties...
Hmmmph... I'm just getting started! My first IT job was in the 60's too. But my mom had to drive me because I was too young to get a drivers license. The first system that I got paid to program was the IBM 1130.
It would be interesting to see if we have anyone lying in 91 or older age group And it would also be more interesting if Perderabo throws some light on nature of his first job got in the 60's, when even UNIX was not distributed, maybe as a COBOL, BASIC, FORTRAN or even assemgly programmer or as a computer operator, btw computer operator job in those days was not so easy also.
Meanwhile its nice to have someone experieced like Perderabo between us, who still has energy to do crazy things like octuple boot laptop
Someone's first job is going to be more interesting than a a 91+ aged person with nothing better to do than to communicate on a UNIX forum to people, who for the most part are working in IT jobs???
If I'm communicating on this forum when and if I reach 70+ there is something seriously wrong. I hope to be standing in a stream fishing, traveling the US and Europe, teaching and stugying theology, and many other things than to work through shell and awk scripting.
I would want to know more than anything else when someone 70+ surfaces in this forum is why, why, why?
Travelling I'm doing now. Why wait until I'm too old to enjoy it (I tour on a motorcycle).
First job would be picking tomatoes in San Diego. Then Marine Infantryman, then Army Military Police. Then Army Graphics Artist. Then a part time BASIC programmer working on Leading Edge, TRS-80, and Franklin PCs.
My dad was a computer person in the Navy and told me never to get in the computer field. There's no future unless you want to spend your time inside the systems dusting.
Why not? If I wanted to travel or teach theology, that is what I would be doing NOW. I would not wait until I'm 70+ to finally enter my chosen field. I entered my chosen field at age 15. I actually would be interested to hear how you selected your path. It seems as odd as the reverse...wanting to be in IT, but spending a few decades studying and teaching theology first.
I take a hiatus every 20 years or so and I'm on one now. But I plan to resume my career next year and work past age 70. And winning the lottery tomorrow would not change that. So I plan to be working at age 71 for sure. I do plan to retire sometime during my 70's, but I will continue to use computers as a user and a hobbyist. And I see no reason that I could not be a contributing member of this forum past age 100 (umm, well, ...assuming the forum survives that long).
I have to agree with Perderabo. The statistics are even more interesting.
Here is an interpretation.
There are two types of contributors/seekers.
I. Those that have started or starting their careers in the recent past i.e. 4-5 years.
II. Those who are already well set in their careers. The ones who saw it happening right from the beginning.
FWIW - I've always liked programming. As a kid, I thought I would be making large doors and windows for churches and cathedrals. The owner of the shop I started in helped me get into college. I went thru grad school.
I can still make nice doors, which is interesting. But instead I'm the senior weenie in my group.
And I made a minor contribution to your everyday life. I was one of a big group of folks who developed and played a game called MARS back in 1982. So, If you know anything about computing history, you know my contribution.... if that's the right word. :).
Don't get me wrong on my current focus versus what I look forward to doing. I am working in my chosen field and, like you, I have been in this field since my mid teens (with a short suspension while trying to figure out what to do with my life at the age of 18). I thouroughly enjoy computer related activities, both from a work perspective as well as a hobiest perspective.
While I would love to be fishing or traveling Europe right now, I can't pay my bills that way. Shifting focus entirely into theological study and, some day, perhaps teaching, is a strong desire for me. I haven't persued that as a formal course of study with a change in carreers in mind to date simply because my life activities don't afford me the time that I know I will likely impose upon myself to get where I'd like to be. The books that I buy and read now days are related to theology versus computer science but I still look forward to updating my library of UNIX scripting (shell/awk/sed/Perl) and Oracle books next year some time.
Hmmm... well I guess that not everyone is a single-minded as I am. In the 50's I would watch sci fi movies like Kronos or The Magnetic Monster where some dude working with a giant computer would save world. I decided then and there I had to be a computer guy too. It was the first and only career choice that I ever made. I'm thinking this was like age 6 or so. And, while I don't save the world from giant alien robots or anything, basicly that's what I do. People keep trying to steer me into a management position but I won't have any part of that and I don't care how much better it pays.
If you're split between IT and theology, I don't know what to suggest. The first post sounded like you were chasing money rather than happiness. IT and theology is a wild pair of interests. I'm having a hard time putting those 2 together. It seems like you may soon need to make a decision though. IT is one field that changes fast. And your competition will be reading IT books rather than theology books. You can fall behind quicker than you may think. I don't mean to knock your choices... just pointing out a potential problem.
I'm not really conflicted as my post suggests. I plan on staying current in IT because a) I love the work, b) because I have seen over and again how quickly folk's skills become obsolete, c) still pays the bills. Money isn't my primary motivator by any means, I quit working a really good hourly contracting position to stay on permanent where I am now, which has been the funnest IT job that I have had so far. I feel bad for people who hate thier line of work; I can't identify with that at all.
My turn to contribute to the conversation. I'm 55 - got started as a mainframe operator when I was in high school around 17 years of age. The natural progression was to become a applications programmer, then a systems programmer.
I enjoy puttering around on my two Linux systems at home as well as the Windows XP. My wife enjoys working with photos, text, and many other things. I like to webcam with friends around the U.S. and world.
The internet is our window to the world - these forums are great fun cause one gets to meet so many different types of personalities.
I like to divide my away-from-work time with outdoor activities and PC activities; it's not one or the other.
it's too bad that our bodies actually show our age more than our attitudes ... i feel like i'm still in my 20s but my nose hairs are getting gray too so i guess i can't deny my age anymore ...
And it would also be more interesting if Perderabo throws some light on nature of his first job got in the 60's, when even UNIX was not distributed, maybe as a COBOL, BASIC, FORTRAN or even assemgly programmer or as a computer operator, btw computer operator job in those days was not so easy also.
