February 3, 2010 - (With slideshow) Could Andrew Munsell, the Woodinville, Wash. teen who wrote HTML at age 10, created video games by age 13, and created about 10 apps by age 15, be the next Bill Gates?
(Exclusive interviews: Katrina Munsell, Andrew's mom, and Andrew Munsell)
At age 10 Andrew loved his pug, Zoey, so much that he learned to write HTML code and created a website, "It started when I was 10 years old," he said. "We first got our dog and I just loved Zoey so much that I created my first Web site called clubpug."
By age 13 he was creating his own games to put on his Texas Instrument calculator and making them available for download on his Web site TI Wizard.
Texas Instruments, Inc. was trying to inject new life into its graphing calculators. Andrew owned both a TI 84 and an Nspire and said he liked the Nspire because of the added complexity. He created games for the devices and made them downloadable from his website.
In September The Wall Street Journal quoted Andrew, "The TI-Nspire that I have,” he said, “Is not just a calculator any more -- it is a handheld computer.”
Other kids at his school took to their TI calculators once Andrew gave them a place where they could find games, "I was really the one that made the calculator cool. Almost," Andrew said.
Andrew, now 15, has created about 10 apps available for download at the Palm store. He makes a few thousand dollars each month that he’s putting away for college.
And while he loves computers his true aspiration is to go to med school, "I love creating programs, but I also want to help people," he said.
Andrew's mom, Katrina Munsell, tells Examiner that this is exactly how Andrew acquired the broad skill set that he has. “He started with HTML when he was about 10 or so (it might've even been earlier), but since then, he's now fluent in several different programming languages including PHP, Javascript, and C++ -- all self taught,” she said. Click here for exclusive interview with Katrina Munsell.
Part 1: Andrew Munsell, next Bill Gates? Teen prodigy writes HTML age 10, makes 10 apps by age 15
Part 2: Andrew Munsell, next Bill Gates? Exclusive interview with Andrew's mom, Katrina Munsell
Part 3: Andrew Munsell, next Bill Gates? Exclusive interview with Andrew Munsell
Part 4: Andrew Munsell, the next Bill Gates? Exclusive interview with Andrew’s school advisor
Sources:
KING 5
Wall Street Journal
Exclusive interviews with Andrew Munsell and Katrina Munsell
Comments
What's so impressive about this? I had friends in high school who were doing the same thing at the same age and younger, and this was over 10 years ago using programming tools that were far more complex than html or the TI basic programming language.
>next Bill Gates
>his true aspiration is to go to med school
wat
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!