If you're in the IT industry and notice that your child has an aptitude for computing, you're in a great position to nurture them. But if you're a plumber whose child would rather listen to Popular Mechanics than Harry Potter for their bedtime stories, knowing how to nurture that talent is tricky. It's especially problematic in a country like South Africa, where many schools are ill-equipped to spot a promising prodigy.
Despite that difficulty, 12-year-old Sam Berger of Milnerton in Cape Town has developed and sold licences for a mobile app that may make him the youngest technology entrepreneur in the country, his proud father believes.
The app allows people to check whether or not a hot water geyser is still within its period of guarantee without clambering up onto the roof.
That sounds like an odd app for a schoolboy to focus on, but he'd often heard his plumber father Larry complaining about the problem and decided to use his coding experience to find a solution.
It's in the plumbing
Young Berger got his first computer a few years ago when his private school, Parklands College, asked parents to buy their children Apple laptops. "It was an expensive request and I couldn't quite afford it, so we got him a second-hand Macbook," Larry Berger says.
Several years later, Sam Berger has just earned his first paycheque from his hobby by selling the GeyCheck app to two plumbing companies. The app uses a Quick Response (QR) code to read information on the geyser via a cellphone, and was initially designed for insurance companies. But as is often the case, nobody wanted to pay for it. "We gave up trying to convince the insurance companies and the geyser manufacturers because they were fighting over who should buy it," says Larry Berger. "I used to be chairman of the Plumbing Institute so a lot of the guys know me and it's easy to say, 'Can you take a look at this?'. So Sam changed the app slightly and added a few more features. I've since shown it to four plumbers. One has already paid for it and a geyser supplier has also taken it."
Unfortunately, the world doesn't cater for talented IT kids.
Larry Berger, Sam Berger's father
Berger believes selling the licences officially makes Sam an entrepreneur. A few months ago, the youngster tried to enter the Sanlam/Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year competition. He was not only too young, the rules also excluded him because he hadn't generated any income so he didn't qualify as an entrepreneur. But after selling two licences, he can enter this year's competition.
Sam Berger says he has also developed a location-based health care app that the City of Cape Town is looking at. "I quite enjoy programming. It's cool. I like anything to do with microchips," he says.
He's something of a loner in his hobby, however, since friends don't share his interest in programming and he isn't a member of any clubs where he could hone his skills. "I'm doing it by myself, but I have a little bit of help from a mentor when I don't understand something and he tells me how to do it. But it's mostly just me. I don't really mind doing it alone," he says.
Berger says he finds coding fun and a little mysterious, like doing a crossword puzzle or trying to solve a problem. "Python is one of the largest computer languages in the world and is easy to learn, especially for kids. It's the language I use to code my apps," he says.
Silicon Valley
Despite the lack of official support, in 2012, Sam Berger was invited to attend a two-day Python programming course at the University of Cape Town. The facilitator was so impressed when Berger completed his tasks ahead of far older students that he arranged for the Python Foundation to fly the boy and his father over to a programming conference in Silicon Valley last year. Sam was mentioned in both the opening and closing ceremony to more than 3 000 delegates.
"I had lots of fun so it was really cool," says Sam. "We used little credit card-sized computers so I really enjoyed helping set them up and playing around with them."
On Berger's Web site, Larry Berger writes about the problem facing parents who don't know how to help their children. "I knew Sam liked all things electronic from when he was about four. You trust the school your child attends to notice these talents and hopefully assist in bringing them to the surface. But in many cases, this won't happen," he says. "Unfortunately, the world doesn't cater for talented IT kids. I have absolutely no knowledge of IT. I've stared at his coding for months and months and I still don't understand it."
First published in the January 2015 issue of ITWeb Brainstorm magazine.
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