On First Technological Victories

I recently came across a photo on my phone of a device that significantly shaped my worldview.

The 386 computer I bought with my first earnings was an entire world, but an almost silent one.

The standard PC Speaker could only beep, and buying a Sound Blaster or AdLib, which cost about a third of the computer price, was just a dream.

This feeling of limitation, when the technology exists but is incomplete, became my first real challenge.

Then on BBS, the internet equivalent of that era, my friend Anton and I stumbled upon a schematic for a Covox device - a simple digital-to-analog converter for the LPT port.

It was like finding a treasure map. The idea seemed brilliant in its simplicity, and we were fired up to build it.

What followed was a real adventure that I still remember to this day.

We traveled to the radio market, which was a universe unto itself with its own rules, hunting for the right resistors and connectors.

We etched circuit board traces with acid using a special solution - it was an almost alchemical process. Then we soldered, assembled, and checked everything against the schematic.

Then came the long process of setting up DOS drivers. Something was constantly not working, we spent hours troubleshooting, even tried modifying the code with nothing but a text editor and our own persistence.

And then came that moment. We launched Quest for Glory from Sierra.

Instead of the dreary beeping from the speaker, real sound effects rang out. Not Hi-Fi, of course, but there were the hero’s footsteps, ambient sounds, sword strikes. The world on screen suddenly came alive.

It felt like transitioning from silent film to talkies, and doing it yourself. Our joy was boundless.

This experience, which seems naive today, actually laid the foundation for my philosophy.

First, it’s about the ability to not accept limitations, but to seek solutions.

Can’t buy it - build it. Doesn’t work - figure out why.

This is the entrepreneurial spirit in its purest form.

Second, it’s about the value of deep understanding of how things work. When you’re not just a user but a creator, you see technology completely differently.

This resonates with what I’ve written about how AI is changing the work of our consultants and developers.

Even today, in the era of ready-made AI solutions, those who win are the ones not afraid to look under the hood, understand the principles, and build something of their own that’s perfectly suited to the task.

At Customertimes, we value exactly these kinds of people who are capable not just of executing tasks, but of creating new solutions.

The homemade sound card only remains in a phone photo after sorting through boxes during a move, but it taught me the main thing: the real magic of technology is born not at the moment of purchase, but at the moment when you yourself see an idea through to completion and hear the result of your work.

This feeling that you’ve made the impossible possible - that’s the main driver for any creator.

What’s your Covox moment? What technology did you build or hack together that changed how you think about creating versus consuming? I’d love to hear your stories.