One thing I’m realising as I develop taskline is that I have taste, but I lack talent. By taste, I mean that I have an intuitive feel for the ergonomics, for how the program should feel, its surfaces. I’m proud of the design, but I’m hemmed in by my technical ignorance.

I’m reminded of my disappointment at Birdy’s self-written songs, and how I remarked that her taste exceeds her talent. Her debut was made so achingly beautiful by hearing her cover those incredible songs, written by people who’d lived far beyond her few years. To hear those vivid, vulnerable songs rendered in the naked naivety of her voice was such a spellbinding contrast that her own writing, coming later, was perhaps destined to disappoint. I wonder what her music will become. Ten years from now, will she have the lived experience and the talent to write songs that equal her taste? And even if she has, will her voice still ring the same? Ten years from now will I have the skill, the talent, to reach beyond the programs that my taste can imagine but I cannot yet bring into being?”