Plumbing the depths

What was your first job, and how did you get into IT?
I started out as an electronics engineer, modifying and repairing professional audio equipment for broadcast companies. I moved into IT in 1992 as a pre- and post- sales support engineer for networking technologies.

Planes, trains or automobiles?
Definitely automobiles. I'd choose trains if I lived in the city and wanted to go to another city - but I don't. I feel sometimes my job is better described as "airline passenger" as I spend so much time on them. You can get too much of a good thing!

What is your favourite joke or the one you heard most recently?
We all think we're pretty smart until we try to turn on someone else's shower.

What was the best business trip or junket you've ever experienced?
Dubai, January 2011. I decided for the first time in a decade of business travel to take my family with me. It made all the difference; I guess that's the family man in me.

Although we stayed at the Atlantis, and my children are now under the impression that business travel is always like that.

If you had to choose just one leisure activity, which would you choose: an art or a sport?
Art - by which I mean music. It's in my DNA. Music is my escape. Who needs to live in the real world all the time, anyway?

Oranges or bananas?
Bananas, especially in France. I asked for them once there, and they tasted like pineapple.

Will there always be value in printed books and magazines?
With every innovation comes the prediction of the end of something else. The introduction of television sparked a forecast of the end of radio. And just how long has the writing been on the wall for tape backup? Some things do disappear, but generally people enjoy choice.

Where would you like to go or what would you like to do on your next holiday?
I would like to spend some time in a deprived part of the world, with a very different culture, and have the opportunity to contribute something of myself, rather than just read about their problems or give them money.

Do you or have you read Channelweb.co.uk on your mobile phone or other handheld device?
I hadn't read it on my mobile until I read this question; my life now feels even more complete.

Is telling little white lies wrong? If so, under what circumstances?
Yes, in every circumstance. We don't always need to be told everything, such as when we're going to die. But one white lie leads to another and before you know it, you're a lawyer!

Besides, I have such a bad memory, it's just so much easier to tell the truth and then I don't have to remember anything.

Can politicians ever be trusted on IT?
Yes, why not? IT vendors can be a bit like politicians too: if every promise they made had been delivered, IT today would be unlimited and free.

What are you reading?
I have many books on the go right now, mostly theology or religion based. Whether you are religious or not, religion has had an amazing impact on human society.

I do try to understand the cultures behind the façade of hotels, taxis and meeting rooms that I spend time in.

Mark Lewis is EMEA marketing director at Pure Storage

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