WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:03.480 Oh hey, it's that squirrel staring at you through the 2 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:06.879 window because you're late with the peanuts. Today, Ali Ward 3 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:12.480 back with an extremely digital episode of Ologies. Ali, you say, Downward, 4 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:16.399 we love snail funerals and coyote ghosts and mushroom gonuts. 5 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:18.280 But let's bump this into the age of the world 6 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:20.879 Wide Web, shall we? So we are today I get 7 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.559 my head out of the annals of dusty natural history books, 8 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:27.039 into the ones, into the zeros, and into the head 9 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:31.039 of a genius programmer and designer and entrepreneur. But first, 10 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:33.759 a few thanks, of course, to the folks on Patreon 11 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.600 for supporting their show and sending in questions to asologist 12 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:38.840 A dollar a month gets you into that club. And 13 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:41.880 thank you to everyone who has been quarantine binging and 14 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.880 telling friends and family and subscribing and rating, and of 15 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:47.719 course the reviews that keep me going on days when 16 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:51.079 I feel so lonely, such as this week's spotlight on 17 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:53.759 school Ain't So Bad? Who wrote, Oh hey, it's that 18 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:55.679 guy with a PhD who dropped a green bean on 19 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:57.439 the floor but then shoved it into his beard to 20 00:00:57.479 --> 00:00:59.960 sanitize it, but then couldn't figure out how to retrieve it. 21 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:02.159 I simply want everyone to know that you should make 22 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:04.280 this podcast your weekly go to because it is a 23 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:06.239 great way to remind yourself that even if you have 24 00:01:06.280 --> 00:01:08.959 a PhD, you can still find questions you've never thought 25 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:11.640 of and learned things that you never wanted to know. 26 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:14.319 This podcast is the Bean and my Beer. So thank 27 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:16.680 you school It So Bad. That was a very nice review. 28 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:19.680 Buckle up to hear your old dad out of her 29 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:24.159 comfort zone and into the matrix. So architectural technology. I 30 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:26.719 know you are definitely thinking that this is an episode 31 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:30.719 about how arches are built or glass buildings with solar 32 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:33.439 panel windows. I know, but watch out, that is not 33 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:37.719 it at all at all. So archie means having or 34 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:42.120 conceived of is having a single, unified overall design and 35 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:46.799 texture comes from the Greek for chief weaver or builder, 36 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:50.560 and then technology is also from the Greek meaning art 37 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:54.799 or craft, coming from weave. So the tech in architect 38 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:59.439 and technology are the same tech. So archetechnology. You'll hear 39 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:02.799 more on that now. Okay, I don't know beans about programming, 40 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:06.159 and when things start to get over the average or 41 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:08.520 in my case, below average person's head, I'm going to 42 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:10.680 stop and just clue us all in for a second, 43 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:13.080 just to get up to speed so no one's left behind. Also, 44 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:16.680 I made this episode kid friendly just because we'd need 45 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:19.039 the youth to solve all of our problems. Thank you 46 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:22.400 in advance for doing that. Now this ologist is just 47 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:25.360 about to become your new hero. At fourteen, he got 48 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:28.080 the Presidential Scholar Award from a guy named Barack Obama. 49 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:30.319 And at the age when most of us are just 50 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:33.599 sweating over getting our learners permit, he was working on 51 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:38.719 data analysis for Twitter and with Instagram and Snapchat. Still 52 00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:43.280 in his teens, he was pioneering autonomous driving systems, and 53 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:46.800 he's worked for SpaceX. He's spoken at TEDx. He has 54 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:50.960 created the user experience for Nipsey Hustle's smart store, Marathon Clothing, 55 00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:55.800 and just in twenty twenty alone, he's collaborated with Prada, Versace, 56 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:00.439 Travis Scott, and Fenti. He launched an augmented reality visual 57 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:03.840 studio called Spatial Labs, and is the designer for Snoop 58 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:07.599 Dogg's new retail store. He's also releasing an EP of 59 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:10.520 his own, Dude is Busy and He's Awesome. I was 60 00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:13.039 very lucky to be introduced by our mutual agents at 61 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:15.879 wm so Hi Travis and Hi Matthew. And then for 62 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:18.680 the week leading up to this interview, I just had 63 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:21.479 noughts in my stomach about how cool he was and 64 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:24.159 how little I understood about programming and just want to 65 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:28.159 ask him. But he is as patient and as gracious 66 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.400 as a genius could possibly be, and we chatted all 67 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:35.840 about the value of hands on tinkering and different programming 68 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:38.759 languages and what they do, and how to start coding 69 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:42.879 at any age, advice he gives kiddos and grown ups, 70 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:47.199 and being part of technological movements, how he's worked with 71 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:51.080 everyone from Kanye to Rihana and more, what the future 72 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:55.680 will look like, and why being flexible and collecting varied 73 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:59.000 life experiences is the key to excellence. So cozy up 74 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:02.280 and get ready for your mind to be blown and 75 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:07.800 your heart to be warmed by architectural technologist Idris sand. 76 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:27.160 But luckily for. 77 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:29.360 You, I imagine a lot of your stuff can be done 78 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:30.040 on a computer. 79 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:30.560 Right. 80 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.759 Oh yeah, I mean for me, work has always been 81 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:35.879 about being digital, and even though we have an office, 82 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:38.439 you know, it's really been about like you know, I 83 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:42.079 just the comfort of like having an in home office 84 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:43.800 in a studio, And I mean, I mean I do 85 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:49.319 everything here from software developing to architectural fixture. Like you know, 86 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:52.519 I do a lot of prefab architecture, so creating the 87 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.240 concepts here, three D printing them. There's a CNC machine 88 00:04:55.240 --> 00:04:57.600 in here. There's like all these different machines. So we 89 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:00.560 just constantly keep the creative juice flowing. 90 00:05:00.839 --> 00:05:04.680 Ps. Speaking of juggling several different intricate tech projects and 91 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:07.800 creative juices, I asked him how much coffee he has 92 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:10.000 to drink to handle it all. He told me he 93 00:05:10.040 --> 00:05:14.639 doesn't even drink coffee. This man is just naturally turbocharged. Okay, 94 00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:18.160 let's get right into it. And how would you define 95 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:20.839 an architectural technologist or someone who doesn't know? 96 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:26.040 Yeah, so architectural technologist or more more like you know 97 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:30.199 important like digital architect is really this like term that 98 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:36.079 I coined around you know, applying the concepts, the ideations, 99 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:41.399 and the design thinking that goes into you know, architecture 100 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:47.839 and applying those two enhancing, enriching and scaling digital systems. Right, 101 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:51.519 So it's about understanding like Dita Ram's ten principles of design. 102 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:55.120 You know, Zaha needs like principles or Mark Newsom or 103 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:58.319 Johnny Ive or even like you know Bauhaus right, taking 104 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:02.560 these elements of design and applying them to create efficient 105 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:07.680 systems around digital infrastructure. That's like the you know way 106 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:09.360 that I can break it down to people. They see 107 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:13.439 the vision, but once they like have those conversations and 108 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:15.519 it gets deeper, it makes total sense. 109 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:19.560 That list of designers a side note include visionaries who 110 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:26.639 have made fluid sloping opera houses to elegantly minimalist German buildings, 111 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:30.600 to knighted designers, and the mindes behind everything from rounded 112 00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:33.879 lounge chairs to the Apple Watch. Now, Idris mentioned the 113 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:36.920 ten principles of design by Dita Roums, which I will 114 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:40.360 list very quickly for context for this episode. Good design 115 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:43.879 is innovative. Good design makes a product useful. Good design 116 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:48.000 is aesthetic. Good design makes a product understandable. Good design 117 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:52.680 is unobtrusive. Good design is honest. Good design is long lasting. 118 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:56.319 Good design is thorough down to the last detail. Good 119 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:00.920 design is environmentally friendly. And good design is as little 120 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:05.000 design as possible, so less is more. Something to consider 121 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:08.480 before adding a bunch of glittering clip art and comic 122 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:12.000 sands headers to your web patreots clutter be gone. And 123 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:15.879 what what do architecture and digital landscapes have in common? 124 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:18.600 Is there something about like a user experience of it 125 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:22.600 being clean but big, but navigable but complex? Like how 126 00:07:22.680 --> 00:07:25.040 how would you kind of relate those two? 127 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:28.160 Yeah? Well, I mean technically, you know, when I use 128 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:30.519 the word architects, I don't mean in the context of 129 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:33.399 the noun, right. And as a noun, it's somebody that 130 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:41.319 you know, assists, creates or develops, you know, using the 131 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:46.279 skills of design, creates, builds, assembles, or supervises buildings and 132 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:49.839 their construction. Right, architects. And although I would love to 133 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:52.600 be in that category, I have not you know, took 134 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:55.560 the Bar test for architecture and you know, I never 135 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:57.480 went to college. Guys, I feel look at a dictionary 136 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:01.639 for the word architect. In a dictionary, there's another definition. 137 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:04.759 And as a verb, it's a process. It's a living thing. Right. 138 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:08.839 The noun version, it confines you to a box. It 139 00:08:08.839 --> 00:08:11.160 puts you in this box of you are an architect, 140 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:14.120 and in many cases you're building either physical things or 141 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:17.199 digital things. Right. Architects don't always have to build physical systems. 142 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:18.920 They can also build like virtual systems. 143 00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:21.720 Okay, quick aside I look this up and yep, sure enough. 144 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:24.800 Architect is both a noun and a verb, and the 145 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:27.839 verb is more common in the tech industry now, I 146 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:31.160 dress defines it for those of us outside of those 147 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:32.200 digital domains. 148 00:08:32.360 --> 00:08:36.440 As a verb, it's a process. It becomes a living thing, 149 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:39.799 it becomes universal, it becomes water in itself, because it 150 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.320 teaches you that as a verb, it's the process of 151 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:46.159 taking figments of an idea and making it into an 152 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:49.039 actual product. And I fell in love with that definition 153 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:50.399 of like, and I was like every time, I'm like, 154 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:52.919 I'm a digital architect, not as a noun, but as 155 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:55.879 a verb, because people need to understand the power in 156 00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:59.600 verbs being used to define what they do. Right, we 157 00:08:59.679 --> 00:09:01.399 live in the era of like people be like, Oh, 158 00:09:01.399 --> 00:09:03.799 I'm a Tory, So I'm a Gemini, I'm an aquarius, 159 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:09.080 I'm an introvert, I'm an extrovert. All these boxes that 160 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:11.960 we put ourselves in. And then when the moment somebody 161 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.799 calls us or puts in the cite box, what's the 162 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:16.120 first thing we say, trying to put me in a box? 163 00:09:17.240 --> 00:09:18.960 What I tell the bigges stock. So, yeah, that's what 164 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:22.320 digital architecture really is to me. Like the usage of 165 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:25.879 architecture in a verb definition. I think the similarities that 166 00:09:25.919 --> 00:09:28.480 tie everything back to each other, which I've which took 167 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:30.960 me years at twenty two, it took me years to learn, 168 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:38.840 was that what connects synchronous designs together is the synchronosity 169 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:42.200 between all forms of design is empathy, right, And I 170 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:45.720 think that's one thing that architecture is a representation of. 171 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:51.039 Architects ironically build either physical buildings or digital systems for 172 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:55.639 everybody else but themselves. Architects are the equivalent of the 173 00:09:55.679 --> 00:09:59.759 doctors of the design world that find viruses and pathogens 174 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:03.519 and all of these things of design right and create 175 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:06.919 using certain elements and patterns and tesselations together to form 176 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:09.799 whole buildings that can protect people and cost shelter. Like 177 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:12.679 being an architect, whether the noun or a verb, it's 178 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:16.440 the highest human achievement and that everyone can do it. 179 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:20.320 Like the connections are in understanding that all elements are 180 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:24.120 designed together, are precisely woven together, connected by one medium, 181 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:24.960 and that's empathy. 182 00:10:25.519 --> 00:10:28.279 Wow, you know it's funny because you say that, And 183 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.399 I think of all of the different scientists that I've 184 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:35.159 interviewed in my work, and I always find that they 185 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:38.000 usually start with a problem and their science kind of 186 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.120 revolves around a solution. And it never occurred to me that, yeah, 187 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:44.679 at the root of that is empathy. Is Okay, well 188 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:47.120 here's something that someone needs, and so I'll build it, 189 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:49.000 or I'll dream it up, or I'll fix it, you know. 190 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:54.600 And you know, were you always a very empathetic kids? 191 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:58.279 Were you kind of out like romping around and looking 192 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:00.919 at bugs or were you more like a book corm inside? 193 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:02.919 Or when when did you become so curious? 194 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:06.440 I think I have always been a curious kid, you know, 195 00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:10.919 I remember being six seven eight, you know. Growing up, 196 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:15.240 we were you know, financially deprived. But I'm very, very 197 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.279 very particular with words, because our words are frequencies. I 198 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:23.000 prefer the term financially deprived instead of low income because 199 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:27.960 it relates to us, you know, beneath level, right, but 200 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:30.440 it's just a lack of resources to be able to perform. 201 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:34.360 So yeah, we were just like financially deprived. And I 202 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:37.120 would always, like my mom would always have to buy 203 00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:40.919 new controllers because I would always break them. And you know, 204 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:43.159 just look at okay, cool, these are what transistors are. 205 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.320 And I would look at a PCB board. 206 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:49.600 PS PCB is a printed circuit board, and no, I 207 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:52.559 have never taken one apart myself. And yes, I just 208 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:55.240 had to look up what a PCB was. I'm not 209 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:55.799 a shaped. 210 00:11:56.120 --> 00:11:59.840 I would look at it and reroute everything and connect 211 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:02.639 to the USB and then take the USB to this 212 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:05.120 and then I remember this one time I created. I 213 00:12:05.159 --> 00:12:09.879 took a remote and then I basically rerouted and reprogrammed 214 00:12:10.919 --> 00:12:14.600 in Java the ability for me to point that at 215 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:17.679 our ceiling fan and I could change the speed of 216 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:22.000 the fat right, and so like I had always been curious, Yeah, 217 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:24.120 those one time I programmed the light bulb to have 218 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:26.679 a two simple digits, a zero and a one node 219 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:29.200 and when it was in a zero state, it was off. 220 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:31.039 When it was in its one state, it was on. 221 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:33.799 And that moment was when I just knew that this 222 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:35.679 is what I was meant to do, the curiosity of 223 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:41.320 understanding how things work, and more importantly, including this this 224 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:44.399 common theme that would forever be you know in my life. 225 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:48.679 Digital alchemy, which is the reusability of products once you 226 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:51.159 know it's it's the way that it's been designed to 227 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:55.360 use once that is depleted, being able to repurpose things 228 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:58.159 to form things completely new, so yeah, So, like answer 229 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:01.080 your question, I'd always been creative. I can't remember a 230 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:04.559 time when I wasn't created. But every single thing, even 231 00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:06.519 to this day, that I create is not for me. 232 00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:09.840 It's about the people around me. And I mean growing 233 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:12.360 up in Ghana for a little bit, and you know, 234 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:15.360 growing up in Compton and moving to Harbord City and 235 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:19.759 being around you know, every type of person from different communities. 236 00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:23.399 Everything that has woven my work and even in my 237 00:13:23.480 --> 00:13:27.919 DNA has been around using that curiosity not to create inventions, right, 238 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:32.080 Inventions are like a blatant form of ego, whether people 239 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:38.080 realize them or not. Innovation is truth. Innovation is humility, 240 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:41.639 and an invention starts with you wanting to create something 241 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:44.440 for the sole purpose of it satisfying your needs or 242 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:48.559 your immediate surroundings. Innovation is about creating things to help 243 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:54.279 the masses. That's the true test of humility. Always curiosity. 244 00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.720 And you know, when did you go from you know, 245 00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:02.759 hardware and taking apart controllers and changing their frequency and 246 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:06.440 into coding and into kind of software, Like when did 247 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:07.799 you make that jump? 248 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:10.879 Okay, so there's two people, right, there's two people that 249 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:13.240 inspired me. One is one is fictional and the others 250 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:19.039 non fictional Steve Jobs, I am back Tony Stark. 251 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:20.240 I am Iron Man. 252 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:28.279 Okay, so they you know Tony Stark, you know, like 253 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:31.120 because that was that was my Howard Hughes, that was 254 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:34.840 my Nikola Tesla, that was my Steve Jobs, even because 255 00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:36.519 he set the bar for me in terms of what 256 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:39.919 could be created because it never really was created. It's 257 00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:44.159 not real. And that allowed my imagination to be very field. 258 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:46.639 But to answer your question about, like, before all of this, 259 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:50.720 what got me into coding? I remember watching the keynote, right, 260 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:56.720 the Steve Jobs keynote of him in two thousand and seven, Right. 261 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:00.840 Are you pulling it up there? 262 00:15:01.159 --> 00:15:03.120 Yes, just so I can show you this, like you know, 263 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:05.440 it's like so I could let you know what Mark about. 264 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:07.879 I think like eight minutes ink. In two thousand and 265 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:11.720 seven the first iPhone presentation, Steve Jobs said something that 266 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:13.799 the rest of the world at that time might not 267 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:15.639 have been might not have noticed because they were just 268 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:20.279 thinking about the product. Steve Jobs took a quote from 269 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:25.480 a very popular I would consider him an anthropologist, a teacher, 270 00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:30.080 a guider, a philanthropist. Alan Kay. Are you familiar with him? 271 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:34.039 Alan Kay? He's huge in the he was very fundamental 272 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:37.279 towards like the early stages of Apple and stuff. He's 273 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:40.039 just like super cool. He took a quote from Alan 274 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:43.720 k that said, people who were really serious about software 275 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:47.279 should make their own hardware. To build your own hardware, 276 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:52.200 build your own software. That was the quote, and that 277 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:55.519 one over so many people's heads. But that was the 278 00:15:55.679 --> 00:16:00.159 birthing place that or that was the mark that signify 279 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:03.080 the birth of Apple as we know today from a 280 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:07.159 perspective of creating their own hardware and controlling the own 281 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:10.600 software right. And I saw that from our early age, 282 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.080 and as I would age, I realized how every brand 283 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:16.759 started to assimilate in that same way. You're able to 284 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:22.440 control the narrative around whatever it is that you're pushing 285 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:26.000 if you're the platform owner. So from a very young age, 286 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.279 I always wanted to be a platform owner. I wanted 287 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:30.879 to think about, yes, I want to build software and 288 00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:33.879 got I started learning how to code, in fact, at 289 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:36.120 the age of eleven and went to a library for 290 00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:41.279 almost two years straight, only missed three days and learned everything. 291 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:43.399 And I saw the differences. When I was in Compton, 292 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:45.759 I was reading legacy programming languages. 293 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:49.639 Okay, I wasn't sure if legacy was the actual name 294 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:52.759 of a programming language, so I had to look it 295 00:16:52.840 --> 00:16:56.240 up and wow, okay, no, So a legacy language, as 296 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:59.240 opposed to a modern one, is older and usually not 297 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.200 the base for today's coding. But it's really important to 298 00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:05.839 know because new technology sometimes has to interact with a 299 00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:09.279 legacy language that may be the base for other programs. Also, 300 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:12.000 please pardon this aside up top, but I just want 301 00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:15.200 to get some programming basics just out of the way 302 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:18.400 for context, so no one feels lost, and also full 303 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:21.599 disclosure because I needed to look it up to understand it. Also, 304 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:24.319 I'm going to go quick. So first off, machine language 305 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:29.400 is chattering via binary code, so ones and zeros, and 306 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:32.920 those are expressed via tens of thousands of transistors that 307 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:35.759 flip on and off to relay those ones and zeros. Now, 308 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:38.200 a programming language is a way for us to tell 309 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:41.400 those ones and zeros how to behave and what to 310 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.880 accomplish for us. So just to remember the task of 311 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:48.279 a thousand steps begins with a single beat boop. Life 312 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:50.559 is just a series of tiny beat boops that can 313 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:53.880 change the world. Now, some of the first programming trivia 314 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:56.920 alert was around the year eight hundred in modern day 315 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:02.519 Baghdad and involved an automata, which was a programmable steam flute. 316 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:05.240 Priorities got to get those flute jams in now. In 317 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:08.519 the seventeen hundreds, we had punch cards that helped operate 318 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:12.880 Jeckhard textile looms, and in eighteen forty three, Ada Lovelace, 319 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:16.519 a writer and mathematician who's also the daughter of poet 320 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:20.680 Lord Byron, wrote an algorithm to calculate Bernoulli numbers, which 321 00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:23.799 are a sequence of rational numbers that occur often in 322 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:27.359 number theory. Anyway, some of the first computers in NASA's 323 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.759 history were women crunching numbers behind the scenes to figure 324 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:35.519 out flight paths and fuel needs, and programming the first 325 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:39.079 electronic general purpose digital computer for the US Army in 326 00:18:39.079 --> 00:18:41.960 the nineteen forties. Fast forwarding to the last couple of decades, 327 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:44.920 let's have a very brief simplification of what a programming 328 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:48.680 language is. Essentially means how plain text or what's called 329 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:52.599 source code is formatted and written to tell the machine 330 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:55.480 how to flip those transistors making all those ones and 331 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:59.480 zeros to get stuff done. And some older legacy programming 332 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:03.599 languages are COBAL aka Common Business Oriented Language, which has 333 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:06.880 been around since the late nineteen fifties. For tran is 334 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:11.119 casual for formula translation, it's also from the fifties. There's RPG, 335 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:14.960 which was developed by IBM in nineteen sixty. C has 336 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:17.839 been around since nineteen sixty nine, and it's the foundation 337 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:21.920 of languages like C plus plus and Java and C sharp. 338 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:24.839 Perl has been around since the late nineteen eighties and 339 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:28.799 gained traction doing CGI graphics. And it's open source, meaning 340 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:30.920 you can fuss with it and modify it. So anyway, 341 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:33.960 thank you for bearing with that history and context. Idris 342 00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:36.920 was at the library at the age of eleven, feeding 343 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:41.079 his hungry brain with legacy programming languages as one does. 344 00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:44.920 You know, I was looking at like Mainframe, IBM, like Lisa, 345 00:19:45.079 --> 00:19:48.519 I was looking at like all these different you know, scratch, 346 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:53.119 you know, basic assembly, very very low level. 347 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:55.759 Okay, so low level like easy. 348 00:19:55.960 --> 00:20:01.000 High level programming is actually low and low was actually high. 349 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:01.240 Yeah. 350 00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:04.720 When I say low level programming, I'm in the kernel. 351 00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:09.359 I'm learning about the machine language, right of how computers 352 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:12.960 not interpret data data but really process information. There's like 353 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:17.680 different forms of computer language processing. Some are it's a lot, 354 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:20.920 Like there's interpreted languages, there's machine language, there's like a 355 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.440 bunch of different ones. But then I just started going 356 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:25.519 to library and read and read and read and ironic, 357 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:29.039 well not ironically, but to the universe in God's grace. 358 00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:32.680 I would end up meeting a Google engineer that happened 359 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:35.680 to be there that day and saw me reading my books, 360 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:38.279 and like that was really the start for me in 361 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:41.880 this space. But yeah, it's I mean, it really started 362 00:20:41.880 --> 00:20:45.240 with just seeing the possibility of you know, are you 363 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:46.440 a huger like Marvel fan? 364 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:50.440 Okay, I was already clueless about programming, but now I 365 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:52.480 also had to admit that I am like a weird 366 00:20:52.519 --> 00:20:54.920 old lady who has not seen a lot of superhero movies. 367 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:58.920 But somehow he was perfectly kind and gracious about it, 368 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:01.359 so much that it almost me cry to be honest. 369 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:06.319 No judgment, no judgment at all. No, no, don't worry 370 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:09.519 about it. You have a whole lifetime, you know, Like, no, 371 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:12.079 I'm not even being ironic. By now, you're still young, 372 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:14.240 like you have a lot of time to like watch it. 373 00:21:14.519 --> 00:21:16.559 But in the first you know, iron Man, there's a 374 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:19.319 scene of like, you know Obadiah who was like, you know, 375 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:24.160 the villain in the first movie like pressing the scientists like, yeah, 376 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:26.519 we tried it, but we can't. He's like, Tony Stark 377 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:30.279 built this in a cave, right, and then the dude like, well, 378 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:33.279 I'm sorry, sir, I'm not Tony Stark. You know. It's 379 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:36.359 like and I think that ability for him to build 380 00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:39.799 anything anywhere at any place is what gave me the 381 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:44.319 push in a very digital way, right, the digital architecture. 382 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:48.240 Tony Stark instilled the digital design thinking in my mind, 383 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:52.720 and Steve jobs Or he instilled the physical design thinking 384 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:57.440 in my life. So like, these are very two card 385 00:21:58.039 --> 00:22:02.599 similar yet different people. But yeah, it was ultimately around 386 00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:06.079 like watching the Apple keynote and at the same time 387 00:22:06.119 --> 00:22:08.960 Discovery because Ironment also came out in two thousand and seven, 388 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:11.960 by the way. 389 00:22:10.759 --> 00:22:11.880 I didn't realize that. 390 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:18.920 So it's like these people together are literally like shaping 391 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:22.279 my design thinking process and everything for years to come. 392 00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:25.880 I dress was nine in two thousand and seven. I 393 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:29.640 still have pants from two thousand and seven that I wear, 394 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:34.799 like legacy bootcut baby. But yes, he got started really early, 395 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:38.240 learning to code at eleven and by chance meeting a 396 00:22:38.279 --> 00:22:40.759 Google designer while studying at the library. 397 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:41.720 I know you. 398 00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:44.640 I know that you were in the library, you're studying code. 399 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:47.359 You were what maybe thirteen at the time, and you 400 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:48.839 started enterning for Google. 401 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:52.240