Some careers are born not in the boardroom but in childhood bedrooms filled with the hum of early computers. For Christopher Hill, Technical Product Manager for Harmonizer at DCL, this journey began in the 1980s, a time when personal computers were just starting to transform the world. Chris was in the 8th grade when he got his first computer---a VIC-20!
The VIC-20 was an 8-bit home computer sold by Commodore Business Machines and marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible. For Chris, the VIC-20 provided a portal to endless games and a lifelong love of technology.
Innovation thrives on curiosity and determination
Inspired by the power that a home computer brought to the world in the early 1980s, his interest and creativity led him to submit an article to Compute! Magazine. Compute! (ISSN 0194-357X) was an American computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994 and well-loved by computer enthusiasts. Back in the ‘80s, most personal computers came with a version of the BASIC programming language. Compute! regularly featured type-in programs written in these variations of BASIC, tailored to different computers. They also published machine code programs, often for simple video games. These programs were listed as hexadecimal numbers in BASIC DATA statements and loaded into the computer's memory using a short "stub" program at the start.
Young Chris submitted the code for a game he created, Bomber Squadron, along with an article describing how to create graphics on the VIC-20:
Chris did not have a printer at the time, so he submitted his article and code on paper output from a good old-fashioned typewriter. He restarted the article many times over because typos were impossible to fix and code can’t contain typos.
The publishers were unaware that Chris was still in the 8th grade when he submitted the article. He signed all the legal paperwork and contracts himself. He also cashed the whopping $500 check he received for the rights to print the article. He used that money to invest in a printer and floppy drive:
Interestingly, and fortuitously for Chris, the article was never published in the magazine, but a year later it was published in Compute!’s VIC-20 Collection—a giant assortment of over 70 never-before-published articles about and programs for the VIC-20. Chris received another $500 along with royalty checks for about 5 years after the initial publication. Chris continued to invest in technology.
Today, Chris channels that same passion and ingenuity into shaping the cutting-edge products that drive DCL forward. His roadmap for Harmonizer and his vision for optimizing content structure and management have revolutionized how our clients handle their most complex content challenges.
From hand-typed BASIC code in the 80s to leading innovative solutions at DCL, Chris's journey embodies the power of curiosity, creativity, and relentless drive. His story is a testament to how early passion, combined with a bold vision for the future, can lead to extraordinary success. At DCL, we’re proud to have Chris on our team, proving that a love for technology isn’t just a career—it’s a lifelong adventure.
Compute VIC-20 Collection
Following is a copy of that book that launched Chris Hill’s love of technology. The price of $12.95 is roughly equivalent to $35 today.
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