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Chi ldhood Fasc inat ion
17
The people Jack listened to on the police scanner did not speak in full
sentences. Instead, they used short codes to communicate what was hap-
pening. Jack thought this was very
efficient
, and began thinking of ways
these short bursts of communication could be used in other areas of life.
The signals Jack listened to through his police scanner became his very first
inspiration
for the future creation of Twitter.
FIRST JOB
Jack was far ahead of the curve when it came to working. He started his
first job as a programmer at Mira Digital Publishing just after entering
high school, when he was fifteen years old.
When Jack joined Mira Digital Publishing, he was eager to introduce
himself to the owner of the company, Jim McKelvey, on his first day. Jack
tapped Jim on the shoulder to say hello, and Jim responded by saying he
would get back to Jack in a moment. Then, Jim turned around and became
so involved in his work that he forgot Jack was standing there. It was a
full forty-five minutes before Jim turned around to find Jack standing there,
waiting patiently for Jim to give him a moment of his time. Later, Jim always
remembered that moment—but at the time, it was Jack’s programming skills
that truly impressed him.
Jack developed a reputation for getting all his work done quickly, and
making his programs perform exactly as Jim requested. His attention to de-
tail eventually led him to manage people twice his age even when he was
just an
intern
. Jim McKelvey was so humbled by Jack’s work that he once
referred to himself as the “assistant to the summer intern,” implying that he
was the assistant to Jack, a fifteen-year-old!
COLLEGE AND BEYOND
Jack greatly valued education and learning, so he never had any doubt
that he would attend college. He graduated from a Catholic high school
in St. Louis and then moved on to a university in Rolla, Missouri. The