Ash FurrowMeet featured speaker Ash Furrow 

After graduating from the University of New Brunswick, Ash Furrow moved to Toronto with his wife and became the first iOS developer at 500px. He worked there for a year and a half before moving on to Teehan+Lax to ship some more amazing products.

A passionate person, Ash immerses himself in whatever project he's currently working on. Not happy unless he's got something to do, he has a life-long obsession with learning; if he's not learning, he's stagnating, which means it's time to move on to something new.

Ash has written a book on the latest iOS technology, self-published another for beginners, contributes to open source projects on GitHub, and tweets profusely.

 

1) Tell us about your early beginnings, how did you get your start? 

I started while I was in university. Over Christmas I was hiding from my in-laws and decided to write my first iOS app. That lead to me getting a student scholarship to attend WWDC in 2010. That kind of jump-started everything and I've been learning more and more ever since.

2) Do you have any future projects lined up, and can you share them with us? 

I've been working with a designer and content editor on a new app called 35mm: 35mm.io. We're hoping to launch some time this September. It's a digital magazine for photography-lovers that features curated content around different themes. For example, our first issue is all about undersea life.

3) For those new to the industry, how do you recommend they break in?

Actually, I run a podcast covering just this topic! It's called "Springboard" and is available at springboardshow.com. I do interviews with different people in our industry about their beginnings, lessons they've learned, and so on. I've also written a book they can check out: yourfirstiosapp.com (the first chapter is free!)

4) First computer or first toy you remember?

I started on an old 386 running Windows 3.1. I say "old" because it was old by the time that I got it. Eventually we upgraded to a Pentium I running Windows 98. I stayed on that machine, doing javascript tutorials I'd print off at school (we had no internet) until 2004.

5) One last question for you – what is the one piece of technology you couldn’t live without? 

I'd have to say my camera. In my spare time, I enjoy photography as a hobby. Now, whether I could live without either film or digital, that's another story...

Thanks for your time, Ash! Look forward to your presentation GitHub for Designers at SCREENS 2013!