--- > UX design wasn’t a thing yet. For that matter, neither was the distinction between front end and back end engineering. Our software engineers designed our user interface, and most of them weren’t good at it. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h1xftqd92em0j3jtncygb2ea) --- > Our terminals were on a [token-ring network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Token_Ring) linked back to those minicomputers. Token-ring networks don’t function unless the chain of nodes on it is complete, as information flowed through every node on its way around the network. I did not know this the day I decided to rearrange my [cubicle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubicle). When I unplugged my terminal to move it, I took half of the network down. I was not anyone’s favorite person that day. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h207rywzmj5962k44p8wypqz) --- > The software industry was a far less diverse place then. The strong majority of engineers were men, largely white, most of them younger than 35. Two of our engineering managers were women, I recall. We did have a few engineers who immigrated from elsewhere. There were no people of color. It was not safe to be out at work (or anywhere, really) then. I knew that one of the technical writers on my team was gay, but that’s only because we’d become friends and he decided to take the risk and come out to me. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h207vb41yjas138bdmrawksj) --- > You had to have at least 10 years of experience, but more likely 15 years, as a Software Engineer before being considered for promotion to Senior. The bar was higher for Senior then, too. I’d say a Senior engineer back then was skilled and experienced more like a Staff or Principal engineer today. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h2083kkvn73vnpfh60f0es5z) ---