Welcome to Birdsoft.
Birdsoft is basically a one man Software House with a mobile and desktop software catalog that has grown to be quite popular in the Windows Mobile world.
Our History…
It started out just a hobby as I was lead developer on a couple of pretty cool Windows Desktop applications. The first being a Flight Planning Software for pilots that was #2 in that market. It was and still is a trully awesome application. At that time, way back around the birth of Windows CE, we experimented with a Port to those devices which was my first exposure to the Handhelds(mainly emulator) in about 1997-98. We never ended up doing anything concrete with it and I eventually left there to pursue other things.
My next job I started working for a GIS mapping company and quickly moved up to take the lead. At this company our management was very poor, so with no direction from above I wrote most of what would become their next generation product and still having so much spare time to fill then noticed that with their well compressed map and data system, it would be perfect for Utility type companies to access the data and maps in the field from the cheaper Pocket PC platform. It was a way cool Application on the Pocket PC but I somehow didn’t get as much credit as I deserved for it(I wrote 90% of it, and THEN my boss took credit for and got permission to write an already written product from the higher-ups) Oh well… Still a very cool application and lead me here…
Around that time I experimented on my own time with writing some other small games and applications and sold them using Handango and Pocketgear, one being a Poker game. So when I left the company in 2003 it was right about the “Moneymaker” time in the poker world and so I took it as a perfect oppertunity to write a more advanced Texas Hold ‘Em specific game. I already had the best poker game in the market, but I knew that people wanted more from the graphics and more from the AI, as did I.. So I spent 6 months studying the game, rewriting my poker engine, and making new graphics(I had the least experience in this but have grown a lot since the orginal All-In). And a hit was born. Since then I have written a few other applications that have taken off including Ulti-Planner, PokerTimer, Extreme Agenda, and now Extreme Text. And I evolved some of my earlier applications into great vertical market seasonal hits, including FairwayWatch Golf Scorecard and The Dog Ate It student planner. Its so much fun that though I know Im sacrificing in some ways, the freedom is great and Im striving to perfect my products so that I get another hit or two and can expand the company into what I really see it being… If I had even two more developers and some help covering support and marketing… WOW!! It will come…
Oh and why the name “Birdsoft”? Well my nickname throughout high school, college, and to this day was/is ”Bird” or “Birdman” or any other of several variations, so one night having a drink with some guys I said something about having my own software company some day… And a buddy said something to the effect of coming to work for “Birdsoft”… So I kept it… And he doesnt work here yet… I dont really have a need for a Civil Engineer quite yet…
So what will be in the blog…
Im not sure.. Im a techie and I have a feeling a very few of you wonder, what goes on in the 1-man shops? There used to be a lot of us in this market, sadly a lot didnt make it… Anyway, I might try to change it up and run ideas out there, or blog on exactly what Im doing coding wise or other business wise, decision wise, or even gadgets or whatever… Ive come across a few things lately that I might share… We’ll see…
Thanks for reading..
Brian
