Conectivity

El Corte Inglés, travel agencies, administrations… The terminals of the legendary IBM AS/400 were everywhere, with those keyboards that left you wondering if they were made of plastic or bricks, and where pressing a key would send echoes reverberating through the entire room. True dinosaurs of the 80s that, nevertheless, also aspired to connect to the Internet.

I worked at Ofitecsi/Road2Web, a service company specializing in connecting those computers to the web. My role was to design prototypes that served as demonstrations for clients. We were a group of young “geeks” who, with laptops in tow, sat alongside the suited-up IT professionals of another era. We were capable of transforming those cold monochromatic screens into colorful menus adorned with golden spheres (my legacy of Photoshop tutorials was still going strong).

Together with my team, I developed several prototypes. For Alcampo, I designed an application that allowed stock inquiries across stores throughout Spain. For Casbega, I did something similar, and although we were subcontracted, we were given free Coca-Cola—a paradise for any programmer. We also worked for LeasePlan in Madrid and Emalsa in Las Palmas, expanding our roster of clients.

I have fond memories of that time, particularly because I had the opportunity to share projects with exceptional professionals who taught me so much about object-oriented programming, both in web development and applications. It was a period of constant learning, creativity, and great anecdotes that still bring a smile to my face today.