Dave Derham was born in Parkstone, Poole in Dorset. His early career saw him studying at Bournemouth and Poole College and becoming an apprentice at Alan Hawkins garage, a small independent garage in Parkstone. Dave moved to Dorchester around 10 years ago and has since moved to Milborne. Married for 27 years, the 45-year-old has four grown up children and is soon to be a granddad. He owns Double D Computers in Bridport and Dorchester.
HOW did you come to run Double D Computers?
I took on Double D Computers after the previous owner packed up the business. I got together with Paul, Simon and Tom and explained the situation and they agreed to come and work for Double D computers in Bridport. On our opening day we had people in the shop and right out on the pavement, we were serving food from Bella’s and even Battens the jewellers took out an ad wishing us all the best. Bridport is a great place. After so much support from the local Bridport people we decided to open a branch in Dorchester and that is really now starting to take off.
WHAT do most people come to your shop for?
What we do here is try to offer an all-round service, we repair all kinds of computers and we sell a large range of ink cartridges, printers and leads, as well as laptops, PCs and tablets.
THE variety of technical accessories for PCs can appear daunting - what kind of help can people expect from you?
We can help with most situations, if we don’t know the answer we can soon find it out. We even supplied all the hardware to a company in Antigua to allow photos to be streamed to huge TVs and be manipulated via touch.
THE pace of technological change is extraordinary. What can people do to ‘future-proof’ their purchases?
That’s a difficult one, but with the right questions we can normally find what people need. We will ask what you want to do with the device, for instance people will say I only want internet and email, then a general laptop would be fine. If they wanted to edit a lot on Photoshop, then we would point them to a faster machine. The better the computer is initially will help to future proof customers.
WHAT do you think will be the next great leap in computing?
I’m always blogging on tech sites and the word seems to be entertainment integration, music, TV, gaming, etc.
WHAT’S the most bizarre request you’ve ever heard in your shop?
Do you sell cheese?
WHAT got you interested in boxing? What makes it such an enduring sport?
It was at my local club and just gave it a try. I was about 10 when I first went and he put me in with a lad to spar with and see what I could do (the other lad was told not to hit back), I went hell for leather and was trying so hard to catch the guy, didn’t land a single punch and could hardly stand after two minutes. I remember being sick in the toilets afterwards.
IS BOXING a sport or is it two blokes having a scrap?
As I said, I couldn’t touch the guy I was sparring with and I was no mug on the street. Boxing is all about movement, balance and placing yourself in the right place, creating angles and being very fit. You’re taught to parry a punch and put yourself in a position to return a punch without being hit.
IF YOU could design a piece of technology to do one thing, what would it be?
There is some great technology about today. My father-in-law is suffering pretty bad right now, and has a Windows 8 tablet he hooks up to and it takes readings and sends them directly to the hospital, it’s incredible. So I’d say something along those lines.
WHAT was the first computer you owned and what was it like?
I had a Commodore VIC-20 that I wrote a racing pigeon program on, but my first real PC was a Compaq DX2/66. Slow, ugly and great fun.
FAVOURITE computer / robot in film or TV?
Huey, Dewey and Louie from the film Silent Running.
PAC Man or Space Invaders?
Definitely Space Invaders.
Double D Computers can be found on South Street in Bridport
(01308 424240) and on Trinity Street in Dorchester (01305 757039)
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