Ed Brill: how I got started with Lotus Notes

In this post Ed Brill talks about how he got started with Lotus Notes and invites the Notes/Domino community members to tell their own stories. Here's my story.

Until 1997 I was working for a small company named Televisual. For some years I worked as a C developer, writing applications to control/publish a teletext system ("televideo" in Italy) hosted by a private TV station.

I still remember the day when my boss told me about a new network called Internet, far more powerful than usual BBS systems connected by modems. ;-)

I had to study HTML, Perl, some Unix administration: my boss wanted me to develop an online service to sell hi-res pictures about Italian Art. That was really an exciting experience, I had the chance to enter a new world (and I also began to perfect my English).

One day I was reading the newspapers and I found a company advertiment looking for someone who had experience with HTML and related Internet technologies, with the goal to introduce him/her to Lotus Notes (!?) and develop Notes applications for the Web.
That company was Centro Computer, located near Bologna.

I was confident I could get the job because in 1997 just a few people in Italy could claim to know Internet, in fact I easily got the job. Before Notes I just used Eudora and Pegasus as my e-mail programs.

I was hired to be the first Notes/Domino web developer: the Domino release was 4.6!


I still remember the excitement I felt when I discovered that Domino could automatically translate Notes forms/fields/views/etc to HTML language! And I also could insert more HTML via "pass-through HTML": WOW, it was really amazing at that time!

Moreover I also discovered some Notes/Domino main features: replication, security, richtext editing, etc.

Since 2000 I work for another software company, Ciemme Service, still on the Notes/Domino platform, but also on Sametime and Quickplace/Quickr.

Now I can say that the world is very little and I'm proud to be part of the Notes/Domino community, exchanging ideas with all the community members, both from Italy and especially from other countries.

I have one wish (among others...): I would like to feel the same astonishment I felt when I knew Notes the first time: maybe I will feel it when Notes 8.5 will be release, maybe I'm too old to be excited by any software anymore and I simply need to have a family ;-)