This article was originally published on Hashnode for the 4 Articles in 4 Weeks - Hashnode Writeathon. Find the link to the original post below 👇.

How Inspiring A Company Can Be

And How Inspiration Can Change Over Time

yuridevat.hashnode.dev

When it comes to inspiring stories in tech development, I always think of a specific company first. The reason is simple.

At a time when people needed it most, a company quickly developed a messenger app so that people could reach out to each other, get noticed, get help, and form a community. It brought together not only people in their own home country, but anyone who came for help.

Table of contents

1. Line
2. Which Company Really Inspires Me
3. Fun Fact

Let me tell you about the company I'm talking about here, because I'm pretty sure not all people know about it.

Line Corporation

In March 2011, a strong earthquake occurred in the Tōhoku region. This was shortly followed by a tsunami, which caused the large nuclear bomb explosion in Fukushima.

As a result of these events, land was destroyed and millions of people died and went missing. Millions of people were unable to reach each other because power and phone lines were cut and SMS networks were overloaded.

Wi-Fi and 3G were still largely usable. Naver and NHN co-founder and chairman Lee Hae-Jin came up with the idea of launching a messaging and chat app. His team of engineers from NHN Japan tested a beta version of an app within two months that was available on smartphones, tablets, and PCs, worked on the data network, and offered continuous and free instant messaging and calling service, as well as free voice calls.

This app is called Line.

Why this inspires me so much

I studied Japanese Studies. During this study I had to learn a lot about Japanese history and the history with the surrounding countries. So I know that Japan and South Korea did not always have a good relationship. And despite that, there was no hesitation and help was given in every possible way.

Line Today

Line is now, of course, a messenger app like any other but with many great other features like stickers, payment options, health care and more.

But the origin story of the app is the one I remember. I wanted to point out how helpful a community can be, how nice it is to help each other, and that despite the fact that this happened more than ten years ago, I will never forget it.

And of course there are these cute characters called Line Friends. I'm sure anyone who has ever been to a Line Friends store knows what I'm talking about.

Which Company Really Inspires Me

So which company actually inspires me? Well, none in particular.

Let me put it this way. There is not that one great company that inspires me so much that I absolutely want to work for them.

But there are many great companies that develop products, and in doing so, improve the lives of many people in one way or another.

I'm inspired by any company that develops applications that are open source so that we can all learn from them and no one feels excluded.

I am inspired by every company out there that develops websites, applications, documentation and other technologies that are accessible to EVERYONE!

And I'm inspired by every company out there that develops software tools for those people who depend on them to even perceive information from the Internet.

So many companies have great products or an inspiring purpose, small or large. Let me tell you a few that I use often myself!

• Thanks to Figma for creating a free design tool that even I can use today to create beautiful designs that I've always wanted to create but didn't have access to or money for.

• I owe my branding to Canva, which provides so many free images, videos and ideas that let even uncreative people get creative.

• Hashnode provides audio for articles so that people who are blind or unable to otherwise perceive the content due to other circumstances. Great.

• Big thanks to companies like Windows that make Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, as well as Adobe that make PDFs accessible to many people who depend on them.

• NVDA, VoiceOver, are such great tools that make the lives of so many people with visual impairments easier and even allow them to use content the way people without disabilities do.

And there's a lot more.

I am inspired by everyone who cares! - Julia Undeutsch

Fun Fact

Last year, I participated in a worldwide Japanese speech contest, where I finished in the top 10 out of several hundred participants.

My speech was about what Japan is to me and how I connect with the country. Part of my talk was about Line and its origin story, which inspired me and showed me that programming is so much more than just writing code. Programming can help improve everyday life. And for some people, it makes things possible in the first place.

I think that's why my personal interest is in accessibility. Applications should make life easier, and that' s my mission.

Julia Undeutsch on LinkedIn: 🥳 I would like to proudly announce that out of 817 participants worldwide…

🥳 I would like to proudly announce that out of 817 participants worldwide in an online Japanese presentation contest by Connect Job, I made it to the final…

linkedin.com

Thanks for your reading and time. I really appreciate it!