Maximiliano Firtman

- So I have started my career basically a long time ago. It was around 25 years ago basically doing programming on DOS. So I was doing system on DOS. And then I really liked the web, so I was amazed around 22 years ago when I browsed the web for the first time and it was, oh, I like this. So, really cool. And we're talking about Windows 3.1, right, at that time. So I started with HTML at that time, so it was a completely different idea of what the web was. We were talking about, you know, eMachines, for example. And then I started to do this for a living, creating websites, using HTML, then JavaScript appeared, then CSS appeared, and then I started to work on training. I really like to talk to people and communicate what I know. So I think that was how I started. So I really liked this IT world, and also not just on developing, but also on talking to the community. So when I started doing things on this industry, the biggest challenge was how to learn. So basically there were no books, or just a few difficult to get, really, mostly when I came from, like, from Argentina. But also the problem is at the time, just think about this. There were no Google, no YouTube, no video tutorials or video training companies. There were no Stack Overflow. So basically learning things were pretty, pretty different, okay? It was a challenge. So fortunately, I think that that has changed a lot. Now probably the challenge is to pick the best places to learn, because we have so many places today that it's difficult to find the right one. And I think that there isn't only one way to learn. So it's a person's different there, so there are people that needs training, like, in-person training. There are people that are okay with video trainings. There are people likes books. Also there are people, like, they only learn by doing. So I think everyone needs to find its own way to learn and solve all the challenges in the tech industry. So one of my favorite projects, I think, was my first book in English. That was "Programming the Mobile Web" published by O'Reilly Media. Because it has, like, two different challenges at the same time. It was my first book in English. Spanish is my primary language. So I had that idea of, can I do this or not? And then it has the challenge of creating the right book at the time. I'm talking about 2009. The mobile web there was really a mess. So I had 40 devices at home to doing testings and using HTML, CSS, WML at the time, even. So it was, like, all languages, and it was really a good challenge for me. Also I have been doing consulting, even creating apps, and also doing talks. I think it, everything's part of what I am right now. So I can't see myself doing just one thing right now. So I cannot train if I don't do consulting or doing some apps. I cannot write a book if I'm not there talking to people in different countries to know what the needs are out there. So I think it's part of, like, a circle that I need to keep rolling.