Aging & Wisdom Quote by Bill Budge

There is a blunt, almost disarming modesty in Budge calling his own Pinball program "old stuff" while insisting he "could do much better". It reads less like self-flagellation than a snapshot of a particular tech temperament: the allergy to satisfaction. In computing culture, yesterday's breakthrough becomes today's embarrassment with ruthless speed, and Budge is signaling that he understands the clock he’s working against.

The phrase "to be honest" matters. It suggests he’s pushing back on an external narrative - praise from users, press, or colleagues - and reasserting the only judgment that counts in an engineer’s head: the gap between what shipped and what was imagined. "Old stuff" is intentionally unspecific, a casual dismissal that dodges technical debate and lands an emotional point: the work has already moved from achievement to constraint. The subtext is that success can fossilize you if you start defending it.

Contextually, this kind of remark fits an era when software was evolving fast and individual creators could still imprint their personalities on entire programs. Budge’s line also betrays a businessperson’s instinct: novelty is currency. If Pinball is already "old", then the market window is closing, competitors are catching up, or the creator’s own standards are escalating. The quiet intent is motivational, maybe even strategic - lowering the pedestal so he can rebuild it higher.

It works because it refuses nostalgia. It’s a creator looking at his past self not with reverence, but with a kind of productive impatience.