After five amazing but breathless years at AOL it is time to leave and think about what to do next. I tell people I'll have another go at that backpack idea, to some interest. The P1 prototype comes out of the loft and I buy more raw materials. The P2 is another shocker and probably worse than the P1. Both the P1 and P2 go back into the same box and into that same space in the loft. I hope nobody asks me what happened to the backpack idea.

I leave the BBC to join the internet powerhouse of its time, AOL. Before I start the new job I decide to turn my design doodle, 2 years in the making, into the P1 prototype. With great excitement I buy all the raw materials and give it my best shot. It’s a shocker and I can't see how to make it any better. The P1 goes into a box in the loft.

I'm working at the BBC in a nice job, and long meetings provide the ideal opportunity to doodle. Before long my favourite doodle becomes focussed on that idea about a way of carrying stuff on your back but still being able to get access to it. The doodle gets more and more elaborate the more those meetings go on.

I've watched my local postman struggling with a crude grey nylon sack and rope, constantly stopping to drop his sack to get at his bundles of letters. It looked really bad for his back and totally inefficient. There has to be a better way to carry stuff ergonomically on your back, but still be able to get quick and easy access.