You not only could have been a programmer, you still can. There was about a 12-year hiatus between the Fortran IV class during my first semester of college and my decision to teach myself assembler when I ended up in tech support. That was quite a few years ago now.
> You not only could have been a programmer, you still can.
Agreed. @graeme if this is a career path that still interests you don't let the fact that you're no longer an 18 year old undergrad deter you. I was in my early 30s when I decided to switch careers and become a developer.
Oops, I should have written more clearly. I know I could still learn programming. And once I finish the planned work within my niche, that's my next plan.
I've got about 1-2 years of known profitable work. Right now that actually offers a far higher return than learning development. But eventually I'll largely max out the potential of my business, or get bored.
At that point, I want to learn programming. Right now, it's not a constraint in my business. I know enough to manage my site and to learn new bits as needed. I've gone through K&R (for orientation to programming, not to learn C, though I did the exercises) and Udacity's intro to python class.
It was here on Hacker News that I both found out about those resources, and gained confidence that I'd be capable of learning given time and commitment.
The business will be a local maximum, but it's also largely passive once built. My main focus at present has been freedom of time and place, and building a reserve of surplus income, since business has inherent instability.
