I'm now a J2EE architect, but my lineage was a ZX81, Sharp MZ80K, BBC micro then an Atari ST. My first job after graduating was for Kuma here in the UK writing ST software.
There's free dev tools on all the main platforms, but how do you get started on something cool that's small & someone else hasn't already written? I guess people need more inspiration.
Bring back the BBC & brown cardigans!