The Finger

When Android phones first came out, there weren’t many apps available. But I was just glad there was finally something to compete with Apple’s iPhone. You see, when the iPhone was released, I figured it would do pretty well—and I had an idea for a great app. But at the time, Apple was only allowing a certain class of developer to get access. My partner and I were turned down.

I’ve lost count of how many bad experiences I’ve had with Apple over the years, but one of them involved Steve Jobs himself. I had the chance to work with him while I was at Lotus, and I’ll just say—I’m not a fan.

I don’t remember the exact circumstance, but I was between projects at the time and had just had a recent invention ignored by the Harvard types who fund tech. So, yeah—I wasn’t exactly in a positive mood.

That’s when I had this idea. I collected hundreds of photos of people giving the middle finger. Old people, young people, babies, women—it’s amazing how many people pose like that in photos. The app let you email one of those images to someone you “loved.” When they opened it, it gave them the finger.

And this is the first time I’ll ever acknowledge this publicly: I’m the guy known as The Angry Coder.

This wasn’t meant to be a moneymaker. It was just for fun. But it blew up and became one of the top apps for a short time. It was so popular, I even made money off Google Ads.

I once attended a class taught by a well-known guy—I can’t remember his name now—who was teaching a Java-based platform. I saw that he had an Android phone, so I went up to talk to him. During the conversation, I mentioned I had written The Finger. To my surprise, he was so excited he took a photo with me. Meeting The Angry Coder was the highlight of his trip.