Today marks the one-year anniversary of my YouTube channel. I posted my first AL video on May 17th, 2020. Realizing the pandemic was changing everything, I came to the conclusion that I would like to continue to interact with all of you, no longer at conferences or other live gatherings, so I turned to YouTube. One year later, I have created over 100 videos, covering many different aspects of Business Central, but all from the hacker perspective.
In today video, I take you behind the camera, I show all the strange things that’s topically behind me in videos.
In this special anniversary video, Erik takes us behind the scenes — or rather, “behind the screens” — of his YouTube channel, celebrating one full year of creating AL and Business Central content. Rather than a technical tutorial, this is a personal look at how the channel started, what keeps it going, and a fun tour of Erik’s home office and impressive collection of vintage computers.
How It All Started
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Erik found himself cut off from the conference circuit — events like Directions and NAV TechDays where he would normally meet the community in person and deliver his signature energetic presentations. Virtual conferences didn’t quite fill that void, so he decided to try something new: YouTube.
The setup was humble. Erik grabbed an old webcam, a decent microphone, and purchased what turned out to be one of the last ring lights available on Amazon before they sold out everywhere. The mission was straightforward: create videos about AL development, cover topics that Microsoft might not prioritize, share tips, tricks, and hacks, and explore what’s possible (and what isn’t) in the Business Central ecosystem.
Finding a Rhythm
Erik quickly discovered that maintaining a consistent schedule worked well for him. Apart from a short break over Christmas, he published two videos every week — one on Monday and one on Thursday. The content ranged widely:
- Simple tool tutorials and getting-started guides
- Creative hacks like running .NET in the browser
- Work on the AL script compiler (with more content promised on that front)
- AppSource submission walkthroughs
- Tips and tricks for everyday Business Central development
The Numbers After One Year
By the one-year mark on May 17, 2021, the channel had grown to impressive numbers for a niche technical audience:
- 116,000 views
- 12,000 hours of watched content
- ~2,200 subscribers
- Countless positive comments and great community questions
Behind the Screens: The Office Tour
The title “Behind the Screens” was actually suggested by Erik’s kids — who, he notes with amusement, never watch the videos because they find them “very, very boring.” The office itself is a roughly 10-square-meter room in the basement that used to be a guest room.
The Work Setup
Erik does everything on his Surface Laptop, connected to a couple of external monitors. His microphone is an Audio-Technica AT2020 USB, and his camera is an inexpensive Canon camcorder from Costco — hot-glued to its stand so it’s always in position and ready to go. On the desk also sits a Roland desktop synthesizer that Erik restored, which he plays when he needs a mental break.
The Museum Shelves
The backdrop you see in Erik’s videos is carefully curated, and there’s more to it than what fits in the camera frame. The collection includes:
- MITS Altair 8800 replica — the machine on which Microsoft sold its first commercial product (a BASIC compiler) in 1975. Erik’s replica can run the original Microsoft code.
- IMSAI 8080 replica — famous from the movie WarGames, a pre-PC machine from the late 1970s/early 1980s.
- Apple Newton MessagePad 130 — still working, complete with power supply.
- HP 15C calculator — with reverse Polish notation, from “when calculators looked cool.”
- Sinclair ZX81 and ZX Spectrum+ — the Spectrum+ being the version with improved keys.
- Atari ST 1040 — formerly German-owned, with swapped Y and Z keycaps reflecting the German keyboard layout.
- Commodore 64 (two of them — an NTSC model and a PAL C64C), a VIC-20, and a Commodore cassette drive.
- Silicon Graphics O2 workstation — notable for being one of the first computers with a truly well-designed case for a powerful Unix workstation.
- Google Glass — sitting in its display case.
- Microsoft HoloLens — next to an original IBM PC motherboard.
- Nokia 2520 and original Surface RT — Windows RT devices.
- Sinclair QL (Quantum Leap) — the machine that was supposed to be Sinclair’s next big step but ultimately failed commercially.
- A stack of IBM PC manuals, including two copies of BASIC, DOS 1.1, and the Guide to Operations.
- MVP plaques and the Windows 10 Ninja Cat figurine.
The Project Workspace
Behind the main desk sits a project workspace where Erik tinkers with vintage hardware. The star of this area is an original IBM Personal Computer from the early 1980s, complete with the legendary Model F keyboard (the predecessor to the famous Model M):
At the time of recording, Erik was troubleshooting the machine using a diagnostic BIOS chip, trying to resolve issues with a faulty graphics card. The monitor is a Commodore display serving as a stand-in while Erik searches for an original IBM 5151 monochrome display or, ideally, a 5153 CGA display — both of which have become rare and expensive.
Erik’s ultimate goal for this machine: locate a copy of the original PC Plus — the great-great-grandfather of Business Central — and run it on authentic hardware.
A Sample AL Extension
While this video was primarily a retrospective, Erik’s channel is built on AL development content. Here’s an example of the kind of code exploration typical of his videos — a simple page extension demonstrating various AL types:
pageextension 50100 CustomerListExt extends "Customer List"
{
trigger OnOpenPage();
var
HttpContent: HttpContent;
JO: JsonObject;
JA: JsonArray;
T: JsonToken;
Txt: Text;
C: Code[100];
Ref: RecordRef;
begin
Txt := '12345678';
Rec.TransferFields();
message(Txt.Substring(-3));
end;
}This snippet, from the “AlWishList” project, showcases several AL data types — HttpContent, JsonObject, JsonArray, JsonToken, Text, Code, and RecordRef — and includes a deliberately provocative call to Txt.Substring(-3), the kind of boundary-testing exploration Erik loves to investigate on the channel. The corresponding app.json targets runtime 14.0 with application version 27.0.0.0, reflecting Business Central’s evolution:
{
"id": "3c526bbf-3a6e-4a36-ae37-5eebeabc0bb5",
"name": "AlWishList",
"publisher": "Default Publisher",
"version": "1.0.0.0",
"platform": "1.0.0.0",
"application": "27.0.0.0",
"idRanges": [
{
"from": 50100,
"to": 50149
}
],
"runtime": "14.0",
"features": [
"NoImplicitWith"
]
}What’s Coming Next
Erik shared several upcoming plans for the channel:
- More AL compiler work — the AL script compiler project had been on the back burner but was set for a major return.
- Version 18 coverage — new features in Business Central v18 that hadn’t been covered yet.
- Vintage meets modern — plans to connect the Altair 8800 or IMSAI 8080 to Business Central.
- Pascal to AL — implementing code from the book Elementary Pascal: Learning to Program Your Computer with Sherlock Holmes in AL.
- AppSource submission update — a follow-up on the AppSource submission journey.
Erik also made one thing clear about community requests: he’s happy to teach techniques and share knowledge, but he’s not going to do anyone’s job for them. If you need a custom report built to spec, that’s a consulting engagement — call eFocus!
Conclusion
This “behind the screens” video is a heartfelt look at how a pandemic-era experiment turned into a thriving community resource. What started with a hot-glued camcorder and a last-available ring light grew into a consistent, twice-weekly channel covering AL development, Business Central tips, and creative technical explorations. Erik’s commitment to continuing the channel — even as the world reopens — speaks to the value both he and the community find in this format. The combination of deep technical knowledge, genuine enthusiasm for computing history, and an accessible teaching style has clearly resonated with the Business Central developer community.
