I am 50 years old. I thought by becoming a research engineer I could improve the world like others before me who created things like radio, indoor plumbing, and textile factories. I published over a hundred research papers, but I learned that no one reads research papers anymore, and publication has become a complete waste of time. I learned that politics and money trump engineering considerations 100% of the time, and that the sole purpose of technology now seems to draw money from investors’ wallets. I wanted to be a great teacher, but engineers are not paid to do that because it doesn’t make money, so now I just make open source projects that I hope can be used to be examples to learn from. But I don’t think I’ll be remembered, as it seems technology nowadays is largely used as a means of swindling people out of their money so they can buy stuff they don’t need and makes them miserable.