Tech memories
A small website, after twenty years of big systems
An imagined developer returns to plain HTML and remembers why making something small can still feel like a big deal.
Kenji is a fictional developer created for this sample story. The interview is about rediscovering the pleasure of building a small thing, rather than describing a real person or making claims about working life in Japan.
A project does not have to scale to be worth making.From this fictional sample conversation
What did you decide to build?
A little website for the walks I take near home. A page, a few notes, and a link to the next walk. There was no roadmap and no audience target.
After years of building systems with teams, I wanted to remember what it felt like to finish something on an ordinary evening.
What did it remind you of?
The first time I changed a line of HTML and saw the page change. The feedback was immediate. I was not trying to become impressive; I was trying to understand what the computer would do.
Did returning to the basics feel like going backwards?
At first. Then I realised that choosing a simple tool was a decision, not a failure to keep up. I could still learn a new framework another day.
For this project, a link that worked and text that was easy to read were enough.
Where do new tools fit in?
I sometimes ask an AI assistant to explain an unfamiliar browser feature. I check the documentation and try a small example myself. It is a way to stay curious without turning my hobby into another deadline.
What is your invitation to the reader?
Make something that matters to one person, even if that person is you. A recipe index, a family photo caption, a page of notes. You are allowed to enjoy the work before deciding what it is for.