Steve

No – a different Steve! My tech focus has brought me into contact with some interesting individuals. The Apple computers I acquired in the early 1980s caught the attention of Steve Mann who was an experimental psychology graduate student. I am not certain what Steve’s background was before he began working with me, but personal computers were new so he was either capable of learning far faster than I or he had learned submitting batch jobs to a mainframe as an undergrad. Steve and I developed some programs together, but the most unique part of our relationship was forged by the time we spent together on the road. I had access to computers about two years before schools began to invest. This made Steve and I experts. We spent a few weekend during the academic year and most of the summers driving around North Dakota doing two-day workshops for different school districts and educational organizations. They paid me because I was the prof and I split the money with Steve. This was before most districts had their own tech staffs, before the state had an support infrastructure in place, and long before the Internet (although we did dial in to BBSs, but that is another story). This situation lasted about two years, but it was a great adventure. Steve was the first Morman I had ever known well. We did not ever really talk a lot about our different backgrounds and Steve never tried to convert me, but just being around each other this much was interesting. Somehow, I became aware of the family’s personal food supply. I had never seen a 5 gallon pail of honey before. Sometimes, when we were in smaller towns, the only place to eat in the evening might be the local bar. I would buy. It was usually steak and a beer for me. it was a steak and 7-up or root beer for Steve. His wife would always send us off with a cooler of food. I guess she did not trust me to cover the food. Steve did not finish his Ph.D. at UND. He jumped ship in his 4th year and put his tech skills to work. I have followed his career in unusual ways. I used to purchase about every computer magazine I could get my hands on and for some reason was reading the section of a magazine (Family Computing or something like that) that describes the staff. Who does that kind of thing? Anyway, I found his name as an editor or associate editor – I cannot really remember anymore. Then, a couple of months ago after about 20 years, I get an email through LinkedIn and it is Steve. Turns out he is now a VP with Symantec. The tech industry seems populated by those bright kids who jump from the academic world rather than finish a degree. Computer science profs likely know many of these individuals. The experience is a lot more unusual for a psychologist.