I met a friend, Jim, last week at a local coffee bar and it was a while since I last met him. So there we were talking about the past and he spoke of his business that he runs now. He seem to have some sort of pride in his undertakings and telling all about how he’s is living in total financial freedom right now.
Jim is a software programmer, but unlike me, he is more to desktop applications using .net and vb. He’s lucky he got the big deal with one of the local authorities bodies that landed him a project to develop some sort of asset tracking software. The product was launched 5 years ago and now it is being use all over the state. Then I was asking him what is his next plan? any new development projects going on or new technology intake? I was a little bit surprise cos he answered me that he does not plan to have another project since the project he got 5 years ago still making profit for him and he is satisfied to his heart contents to this day.
It got me to thinking, I love programming for the web. But if one day I landed on a gold mine, would I like give up all the things I love doing ‘cos the money is rolling in by itself? Did I just did what I did just for the sake of the money? Like, men, why should we work when the big bucks is pouring over by itself.
On second thought, I used to tell myself that what I really want to do is to bring my work to those people who can’t afford it but can help them in getting a better life. I have so many things I wanted to do like health data mining software that help reduce malaria or aids, or school education system that can help poor kids getting the most of education. And I want to do this for free. Maybe in conjunction with NGO or WHO or UN. My products will be the one that most beneficial to those who can’t afford it. I may be too ambitious in this, but that’s the truth. I always dream of helping people and making their lives better.
So I come to believe that Jim and I are not the same type of person. I’m not saying that Jim is wrong in anyway. If that is what he wanted to be then it’s fine with him. But for me, if I one day ended up like him, I hope somebody can remind me of my true purpose. I am doing it for the money, like Jim, but in addition, I’m doing it for something even greater than money, and that is to help make a better world.
Making Web Werkz 