For my final year project, I knew I wanted to write some kind of software, and my Programming Languages professor suggested that I pick a generic topic like "A program in C++" and then I can build whatever.
This was at a time when we just started using mobile data (GPRS) on our phones and SMS was very expensive. It's also when I met my girlfriend, now wife, and we were constantly messaging of course.
I needed a cheaper way to communicate. This was before there was WhatsApp, Signal, etc.
So I wrote Tiruriru. It consisted of:
- a Java mobile application that you could use to send messages to your contacts over GPRS
- a GSM modem written in Python that would call and ring the contact's phone number 3 times when you send a message to them because no one was connected to GPRS at all times
- and finally a REST api written in C++ with Wt Toolkit that was communicating with the app and the GSM modem service.
Since this used very little data it was 10x cheaper to send messages like this than to use SMS. We ended up upgrading to Android phones soon after and 2g/3g/wifi was available everywhere.
That's the story of how I wrote "A program in C++" in high school :)
Only if by fundamentals you mean the fundamental idea behind coworking spaces. Sure, that makes sense. But the WeWork company fundamentals are out of whack. Nobody is arguing that coworking spaces are a bad idea. WeWork is a company that turns 2$ into 1$.
I would offer another anecdote because I really believe this to be a very high quality laptop. I have bought my Dell XPS13 9360 around the same time and have never been happier with a laptop (running Fedora flawlessly, 10 hours of battery). And it cost me around 1250€ (~1420 USD).
I'm also using Dell XPS 13 (model 9360, non-touch, 1080p screen) with Fedora 26, and I haven't had any issues. This is by far the best linux laptop I've had. Just another data point in case someone is looking into buying these.
> I mainly regret not taking university seriously half a lifetime ago, but as a result I became a lifelong self-learner.
Can you please expand on this? Why do you regret that?
I've read a great book about this topic: The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. It's a bit more general of course, but it might be interesting to you or others.
While it may not be "right", you don't need an inventory, not even a payment system. You will not be charging the potential customers. The point is that you test the market, just to see if anyone would be interested in buying. Once they get to the checkout, simply say that it will be "available soon" and optionally ask for email so you can actually sell to them later.
For anything you want to build and sell, you need to make sure that you (a) have a market, (b) can reach the market (marketing).
Again, it may not be completely right, as you may feel (as I do) that you are misleading customers a bit.
For my final year project, I knew I wanted to write some kind of software, and my Programming Languages professor suggested that I pick a generic topic like "A program in C++" and then I can build whatever.
This was at a time when we just started using mobile data (GPRS) on our phones and SMS was very expensive. It's also when I met my girlfriend, now wife, and we were constantly messaging of course.
I needed a cheaper way to communicate. This was before there was WhatsApp, Signal, etc.
So I wrote Tiruriru. It consisted of:
- a Java mobile application that you could use to send messages to your contacts over GPRS - a GSM modem written in Python that would call and ring the contact's phone number 3 times when you send a message to them because no one was connected to GPRS at all times - and finally a REST api written in C++ with Wt Toolkit that was communicating with the app and the GSM modem service.
Since this used very little data it was 10x cheaper to send messages like this than to use SMS. We ended up upgrading to Android phones soon after and 2g/3g/wifi was available everywhere.
That's the story of how I wrote "A program in C++" in high school :)