nik bean

i vividly remember the moment i realized software design could have a profound impact on everyday life. and i think about it often 👇 i was always late to school. i relied on my motorola razor’s alarm to wake me up. it was the most popular phone at the time. but the thing made you set a new alarm every day, and i often forgot to before falling asleep. multiple times a week i was waking up in a panic, rushing to school late because i didn’t have an alarm set. for months, it was so bad that i would receive regular detentions and even threats to lose my spot on the basketball team—which was the center of my life at the time. i lost the razr, and as punishment my parents bought me a much less cool nokia 6288. it was so lame and embarrassing. nokia was the generic option. none of my friends had a nokia. they had sidekicks, and blackberrys, and shiny motorolas. it was devastating. but then… the first night with this thing, as i’m setting my morning alarm, i’m presented with a life-changing checkbox: to repeat the alarm ‼️ set the alarm once and have it repeat every day. forever. i didn’t need to rely on my (very flawed) memory every night. it was literal clockwork, i was up in time and on time for school every day. no more detentions, no more scoffs from teachers, no more jokes from friends. it completely changed my confidence and outlook on myself. i’m not irresponsible. now i was competent, reliable, and consistent. my self-worth increased. and who knows what rippling effect that had during such key developmental years. all because of a stupid fucking checkbox.