Damian Edwards
I remember when I first learnt about the Internet. I was working in a local computer store in 1994 whose owners were friends with some people opening Ballarat's first local ISP. One of my colleagues showed me the HotDog HTML editor and I got my first taste of angle brackets and hyperlinks. Shortly afterwards, I bought my first modem and it wasn't long before I was hacking together a personal web page using MS FrontPage and Image Composer.
The web has changed quite a bit in that time. The browser-wars of the late 90's saw Microsoft emerge as a dominant player on the web after a late start, a position they held for many years. However the advent and further expansion of web standards helped to break the web open again for a new generation of web browser vendors, and today we enjoy a rich selection of standards compliant browsers that also offer something individual and unique of their own.
I enjoy the openess of the web, the fact that a simple page can be seen by millions of people all over the world on a myriad of platforms and devices. I also enjoy the challenge of developing for this somewhat hostile and unpredictable environment. I love how the simple building blocks of the web, HTTP, HTML, CSS & JavaScript, can be manipulated and mastered to create dynamic new experiences and the challenges of ensuring those experiences can be enjoyed by all of the web's citizens.
Today, I love to work with teams and present to audiences on how to build great web sites on the Microsoft Web Platform. The web is as exciting as it ever was, with emerging standards like HTML 5 and Canvas once again shaking up the simple foundations upon which we deliver our creations, and the resurgence of the mobile internet promising to pose new challenges.
I wouldn't want to be developing for any other platform!
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/familyedwards/3952595212/