A Self-Taught IT Career Starting with a Microcomputer in a Model Shop

Yes, I am a freelancer. I am an IT systems engineer.

I started around 1991 or 1992. It was almost self-taught. However, back then, there were already existing products, and the internet was very weak, and there were no books. So, I would buy a server, set it up, and there would be documentation files inside. I would look at the documentation files and think about how it works and how I could make it work by setting it up in a certain way. It was almost self-taught, a trial-and-error approach.

I entered the industry before personal computers were available. The first thing I saw was a one-board microcomputer at a model shop. There were various components on a circuit board, and there were buttons and LEDs on top. I saw it at a model shop, thought it was interesting, and when I got to touch it, I thought it was fun. That's how it started. Soon after, personal computers came out. NEC and other American companies started releasing them. I got to touch them a bit and thought I might try this path. By the way, what I saw was the TK-85 and the L-Kit-16 circuit board.

There were companies like Commodore and Tandy in America, and they started releasing products, as did IBM and Apple. At that time, I was still in high school, an industrial high school. By chance, there was a large minicomputer, and I started touching things like punch cards and paper tapes.

When I started, I used a personal computer, but at that time, I was working on creating circuit boards and loading software onto them. Specifically, it was an access control system, a security-related system.

First, you have to start by getting work, so it's about how to do that, and it also involves dealing with people. So, it's about how to deal with those people, and then, I guess it's about risk avoidance. Staying away from dangerous people and dangerous projects. Maybe it's because there's no organization to protect you, so you have to do everything by yourself.

Payment terms can sometimes be like 3 months after acceptance. So, if the production period is half a year and acceptance is 3 months later, it means you won't get anything for about a year.

Brainpower? Maybe when you have to think of something from nothing. It's about creating a roadmap, figuring out how to put things together. It's like creating a script from scratch.

Probably when someone says thank you. When you feel like you've been helpful. Of course, there's no famous product that I can say 'I made this,' but there is a product where I wrote 30,000 lines of code. In terms of specific websites, I've probably made over 100.

Yes, there is. Whether you take on work through sales or whatever, it depends on how you manage it, but you're always carrying it day by day. It's like constantly balancing on a unicycle. I'm used to it, but I don't like it. I want a stable income.

This is what's called a paper tape. It's a storage device. You punch holes in it with a punch, and the computer reads it and operates based on that. I first touched this in the 70s or 80s. I wonder what kind of information it is, but I think it's some kind of information.

They're called punch cards. You punch holes in them, or you don't. Each hole represents a line. Just like the paper tape, you punch holes with a typewriter-like device, attach it, and read it with a card reader machine. It's like reading a banknote. If you make a mistake, you have to make a new one.

This might be nostalgic for some people, mark sheets. For the common first-stage exam, you fill them in. It's hard to throw them away. It's not like we're trying to create a museum or anything.

If your father was an IT engineer and your grandfather was also an engineer, you might think you want to be one too. But while you can pass down the soup of a ramen shop, it's not so easy to pass down your father's skills. That's because you don't necessarily have to use them, and new things are constantly being created. So, while you might be able to pass down the title or position, you can't pass down the actual skills, and even if you did, you couldn't use them. So, skill succession in this industry is a bit difficult. I've always been concerned or worried about this. What can we, the older generation, do? We can talk about the old days, like how things used to be or how we used paper tapes, but I think the younger generation just goes 'Oh, I see' when they hear it. On the other hand, if it were something like ramen soup, they might go 'Wow'. It's the difference between 'Oh, I see' and 'Wow'.

For better or worse, my current livelihood depends on money. I recognize that money is necessary to live. Compensation is money now. Of course, there are ways to be compensated other than money, but basically, money is compensation, so I want money.

There's something I've always thought about. Technological progress and development make things easier for people. But I've always wondered if it's making them happier. I want people to be aware of this. To always consider who the product is making happy and how, or rather, to always aim to make people happy.