Before Google Maps, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were proprietary, expensive, arcane. Now, thanks to the GMaps API, in two weeks I was able to build my own mapping application. Along the way I wrote a bunch of reusable classes for calculating distances, clustering by proximity, decluttering … all the features that used to cost big bucks.

Open-source software and what is sometimes called the Age of Mass Amateurization also have their troubling side, of course. Example: my income today is roughly a third of what it was in 2000. But since there seems to be no going back, I take pleasure in having an ever-growing toolset and community in which to play.