1. 2002, daylight in the office. Kevin Brody: clean button-down shirt, messenger bag on his shoulder, printed .NET launch brochure in hand, excitement on his face. Thomas Whitaker: older now, heavier around the eyes, polo shirt tucked into jeans, keys clipped to his belt, arms crossed. Between them: a desk with a VB6 project open, and a stack of customer support printouts. Summer heat haze outside, window AC unit rattling. Tuesday, 16:52 — The New Platform Kevin didn’t announce it.

    Tuesday, 16:52 — The New Platform

    2002, daylight in the office. Kevin Brody: clean button-down shirt, messenger bag on his shoulder, printed .NET launch brochure in hand, excitement on his face. Thomas Whitaker: older now, heavier around the eyes, polo shirt tucked into jeans, keys clipped to his belt, arms crossed. Between them: a desk with a VB6 project open, and a stack of customer support printouts. Summer heat haze outside, window AC unit rattling.
  2. 1999, same office late night. Thomas Whitaker: coffee-stained white dress shirt, tie loosened, suspenders visible, hands shaking slightly from caffeine, typing at a beige keyboard. Kevin Brody: sitting on the floor with his back against a filing cabinet, laptop open, socks, shoes kicked off, a half-eaten slice of cold pizza on a paper plate. CRT monitor shows a VB6 form designer and a CompuServe forum thread. Desk lamp casts warm light, the rest of the office dark. Snow flurries outside. Thursday, 01:17 — The Forum At 01:17, the office smelled like cold pizza and hot plastic.

    Thursday, 01:17 — The Forum

    1999, same office late night. Thomas Whitaker: coffee-stained white dress shirt, tie loosened, suspenders visible, hands shaking slightly from caffeine, typing at a beige keyboard. Kevin Brody: sitting on the floor with his back against a filing cabinet, laptop open, socks, shoes kicked off, a half-eaten slice of cold pizza on a paper plate. CRT monitor shows a VB6 form designer and a CompuServe forum thread. Desk lamp casts warm light, the rest of the office dark. Snow flurries outside.