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A dream becomes reality
Issue: 1.1 (August/September 2002)
Author: Marc Zeedar
Article Description: How this magazine came to be.
Article Length (in bytes): 4,445
Starting Page Number: 5
Article Number: 1000
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When I first began using REALbasic, I was amazed: how long had this tool existed without me knowing about it? It seemed cruel I hadn't discovered it earlier.
I'd always longed to program my Macintosh, but I hated the tedious business of learning the Mac's complex Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). I spent hundreds of dollars on massive programming books and Inside Macintosh volumes, only to watch them become obsolete before I had time to learn them!
REALbasic was the answer.
But despite its simplicity and elegance, REALbasic is a true programming environment. It can be obtuse, especially for larger projects.
The Internet is an invaluable resource for RB users, but I still longed for a single source for all things REALbasic: a regular magazine, professionally designed and written, with all the quality of Macworld. That dream is finally a reality.
A Magazine's Journey
In August 1999 I had the idea for REALbasic Developer. I was thinking solely of a subscriber-based PDF "ezine." I posted a survey on my website and the results showed that people would be willing to pay for a quality REALbasic publication.
With a budget of zero dollars, I assembled a team of volunteers and began making plans for the first issue. It soon became clear, however, that the project was more complicated than I'd anticipated. The volunteers were not always reliable and I was working a full-time job myself; I couldn't make up the slack.
It was a difficult decision, but I put the magazine on hold. The last thing I wanted was to launch and immediately fold, damaging the credibility of the concept in the process.
I had no intention of abandoning REALbasic Developer permanently. I hoped at some point in the future I'd be in a position to afford to quit my day job and launch the magazine properly.
REALbasic to the Rescue
During this time, I'd been working on a of couple novels, and I'd been horribly frustrated by the complex task. With a spurt of inspiration, I wrote a little program in REALbasic which I called Z-Write. It was a word processor designed to help me keep all the snippets of text associated with my novels organized. Z-Write worked so well, I decided to try selling it.
To my astonishment, Z-Write proved popular: it brought in over $2,000 in the first month of release!
That may not be much to an Adobe, but for me it was a windfall, and it was the first step toward REALbasic Developer becoming a reality.
The next step was the launching of REALbasic University, a weekly tutorial series I wrote for the Applelinks website starting in February 2001. I figured writing those columns would be good practice and would draw attention to REALbasic and REALbasic Developer.
A Revolution is Launched
REALbasic hasn't made me a millionaire, but it has certainly changed my life. I'm not a programmer by training, but with RB I was able to accomplish a dream.
That's why I chose "Revolution" as the theme for this first issue. REALbasic is a revolutionary product in the same sense the original Macintosh was revolutionary. The Mac brought computers to people who weren't (and didn't want to be) computer literate. REALbasic brings programming to people who aren't (and don't want to be) computer scientists.
It's a match made in heaven.
Give Me Feedback
I hope you enjoy REALbasic Developer. I wish this were a venture that could be done for free, but producing a magazine is expensive. Your support means a great deal to everyone involved. It's a statement to us, to Apple, and to the world that Mac programming is for everybody, not just those with computer science degrees. Your subscription will ensure that REALbasic Developer is around for a long time.
I want this to be your magazine, so let me know what you want to see! Write to letters@rbdeveloper.com or feedback@rbdeveloper.com.
I'd love to hear from you!
End of article.