ReadWriteHack's Ben Chun's ilearnedtoprogram.com shares brief accounts of why programmers learned their craft and art. A large number mention creative satisfaction (which is certainly why I started).
"by writing a BASIC game on a manual typewriter, and being driven by my mom to the local Radio Shack where I typed it in to the TRS-80 I coveted."- Matt Hillman
"in college, when I realized I could have a big impact on the world by building software with a focus on humanity." – Vanessa Hurst
"because I believed (and still do) that it's one of the best skills to have in order to change people's lives for the better." Alyssa Daw
"when I wanted a piano and got an Atari — programmed the keys to make sounds." Katie A. Siek
"because I wanted to make interactive electronic literature." – Zuzana Husarova
"because I wanted to build cool things. Now that's my job." – Alex Gaynor
ilearnedtoprogram.com – Share the Story of Why and How You Learned to Program
(via The Command Line)
