Ah, the irony of the Original Macintosh introduction video on YouTube.

It may seem so old-school for people younger than us, but I still get a chill watching that video - the feeling of history being made. That platform is not only the foundation for our 25-person company, but the livelihood of thousands of developers and IT folks around the world. Yes, we have Steve Jobs to thank for that.

I remember the first time that I used a Macintosh - probably the day that my dad, a Professor of Neurology, brought one home. The Macintosh 512K. For a kid aged 12, it was an eye-opening experience. The only thing that I can compare it to is the fictional wardrobe in Narnia, a portal to a completely multi-dimensional world where the possibilities were limitless, and imagination became reality.

Seriously, I'm not just being poetic here. Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, at the age of 13 - the Macintosh arrived at the right time in my life to set me on a course, one which I'm still pursuing today. Before computers opened my eyes to what technology could do for people - and as a result, what I could do for other people using technology - the options of what I could 'grow up to be' suddenly changed from doctor, lawyer, engineer (both types) to, well, anything. Anything, that is, that had to do with computers.

Lucky for me, this little magic box came to be in front of me years before I needed to make the decision of what I really wanted to be, and the path that led me to be the start Tech Superpowers has been paved with good fortune ever since (not without a speed bump or two). But the experience has made me realize that intelligence and focus to 'be something' is almost never enough to get you to where you'll be most happy in life.

I just spent most of yesterday afternoon installing Final Cut Pro Studio 2 on an old Powerbook G4 for my wife's younger sister - who is 19. She's at a crossroads in her life - deciding between various careers, including medicine, design, animation, and even software development. It made me realize: it is daunting to choose a career in today's world.

Traditional jobs, even ones like being a doctor, have changed and gotten more complex and less appealing. Who would have thought that the possibility for malpractice litigation should define how one should spend ones life? At the same time, all of these new roles - digital animation artist, video editor, graphic designers - are much harder to explain to someone outside of the industry, even an adult. So how can we expect teenagers to even know if they want to pursue them as a career?

Like me, I'm hoping that she'll be inspired not by the talk and discussion about all of these careers, but by having exposure to amazing tools and technology at her fingertips. I don't expect her to learn Final Cut or Soundtrack, but I do think that if she has the right combination of skills and interest, she might just look at these programs and it will just "click" just as the Mac did for me. Her natural digital skills combined with an inherent understanding of storytelling and timeline-based editing may just converge to inspire her to see a clear future path ahead of her. Any maybe not.

But what's clear to me is that the next generation of professionals will only find what they love best by being exposed to a tremendous variety of tools until one of them clicks. That's why I absolutely love it when she picks up by Canon EOS 40D and starts snapping away - because maybe that will be where it all will come together for her.

Sadly, millions of people throughout the world, particularly in developing countries, don't have such tools and technology to inspire them (a problem which of course has been going on since the beginning of time). That is the next challenge, but in focusing on such digital divides, don't forget to help forge the path of those in your family, your neighbourhood, and your own backyard as well.