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Wise has been dabbling in software since the age of 14, when he learned FORTRAN on an IBM at Stewart Junior High School in Tacoma, Wash. He dissected nearly every radio and television set in the house and then skipped college to take a series of odd jobs on the periphery of the computer world. He repaired video-arcade games, Xerox machines and personal computers, and at one time ran the ComputerLand store in Renton, Wash. In 1979, convinced that there were fortunes to be made, he bought an Apple II Plus and began churning out video games, working as a building manager by day and programming at night.
Wise still does his best work at night. Every evening after dinner he picks up where he left off at work. "My wife is a computer widow," he confesses. During the past month, he has been working until dawn with increasing regularity. "When I'm done, we're taking a vacation," says the 29-year-old programmer. "I'm almost getting too old for this." —By Philip Elmer-DeWrtt