Nick Bradbury
Software developer (FeedDemon, Glassboard)
Who are you, and what do you do?
I'm Nick Bradbury and I'm a software developer. I started my career as a cartoonist, but switched to programming after random chance proved it kept a roof over my head more reliably than cartoons did.
I created HomeSite, TopStyle and FeedDemon for Windows, then switched to Android development a few years ago and created the Android versions of Glassboard and NewsGator Social Sites.
What hardware do you use?
My main development machine is a 27" iMac with a 21" secondary display. When I travel, I bring along a 15" MacBook Pro.
I have a growing collection of Android devices, including the latest Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 (which I love), plus a smattering of older phones running various versions of Android for testing. A while back I bought an incredibly crappy, low-end LG Android 2.2 phone to make sure my software runs well even on slow devices. I also have an iPhone 4S, which I use to keep up with what iOS developers are creating.
My closet is full of the skeletal remains of all the Windows systems I used over the years before switching to the Mac. Somewhere in that mess lies a dusty old TRS-80 Color Computer, which I taught myself BASIC & assembler on when I was a teenager.
And what software?
Far too many programs to mention! The desktop software I rely on the most is Eclipse, Google Chrome, 1Password, Parallels, Dropbox, MacHG, SourceTree, Acorn, Skype, ColorSchemer Studio, Balsamiq Mockups, and Delphi (when I'm running Windows).
On my phone, I use Glassboard an awful lot, not just because I helped create it but also because it's so useful for private group conversations. I have a board with my co-workers and another with my family that I post to several times a day.
Before I had kids I was an avid gamer with a love for Quake-style games. I dropped that addiction because once I became a dad, something had to go.
What would be your dream setup?
A telepathic version of Google Glass that could read my thoughts and write the software I imagine without me having to do all that tedious coding.