Most non-competes are ludicrous, and so one-sided as to be completely inequitable. Twenty years ago, when I had a real job, before I got smart and worked for myself, they tried to get us to sign a non-compete, despite the fact that the key people were already in the field before working there. I introduced mine to the ash can. The list of people they would have prevented us from talking to included people I introduced THEM to. If you think you can stop me from talking to someone I introduced to you, you can bite me.
I live in Idaho now. My employment agreement (signed 25 years ago in San Diego, CA) stands. It's an "at will" agreement. I identified "work in progress" outside the company that was clearly excluded from any interest on the part of the company. My company has a presence in every state and 15 countries. I'm not really worried about non-compete agreements.
The only thing I watch carefully is to avoid actually competing with my current employer or engaging in activity that would be adverse to my employer or employment. I have a great contract right now that could easily be the last one I need to worry about until I'm interested in retirement.
I’ve been a software engineer in one form or another for 31 years, first in development, then QA, now I’m back to development. I used to work in the energy sector in automation. Of course I had to sign that. That company was mired in old technology. Now I work for an internet based company using the latest greatest tech and we just had our best month in the history of the company. Take your agreement and shove it!