Knowware History
Back in '92, we met while working at an RF electronics company in Corvallis, Oregon. I (Cindy) was an underemployed English major working in the Drafting department. Gary was an electronics technician. Back then, we used to surf the internet using a command-line interface to get to UNIX-based bulliten boards and FTP sites (ProComm). Gary also had a second job as a technician on swing shift at Hewlett-Packard, where he was learning the UNIX command line environment and would telnet out to the internet in the wee hours of the night. Gary got interested in programming by using BASIC to write code for the RF network analyzers he was using to test products. This led to his discovery of Visual Basic and the purchase of Visual Basic 3.0. After that there was no looking back. We left our positions and moved to the Oregon Coast where we managed a small hotel and Gary wrote shareware and did local PC support. Meanwhile, I had picked up Help authoring in order to document Gary's programs. It was at about this time that the worldwide web was starting to mature. So I also started learning HTML and we built our first web site. And so, unbeknownst to me, I had become a technical writer.
In the Fall of 1996, we decided to take our skills to a larger market, which led us to Boise, Idaho. Upon arrival in Boise, Gary was able to get his first Visual Basic contract programming position, and I was able to get my first technical writing job. It was at this time that Visual Basic had left the 16-bit world and moved into the 32-bit world. The Boise market for tech jobs was just ripe for the picking. This was a great period of time for us. Gary was able to give himself a raise at the start of almost every contract, and I stayed busy with technical writing. It was also during this time that Gary converted all of his 16-bit applications over to 32-bit shareware apps and added more to our web site. There was no end in sight and the future was bright!
AND THEN the tech-bubble burst. The tech bust hit Boise, Idaho especially hard (although I'm sure it was hard everywhere...). Soon after 9/11 virtually all software development contract positions withered away. Gary, faced with unemployment for the first time in years, tried various means of making money, such as selling cameras on eBay, long-haul truck driving, and video editing and production. Through all of this, Gary always did PC support work in the Boise area and wrote occasional software programs here and there. He also got his A+ and Network+ certifications. Since the shareware market had become so crowded, we decided to make all of our programs freeware.
Meanwhile I (Cindy) have somehow managed to stay employed as a technical writer. I have worked for a number of tech writing agencies in Boise and have done a lot of work for HP, which has a campus in Boise. I continue to expand my skills, including learning XML, and I also continue to build web pages for people on the side.
At present, Gary has turned all of his energies toward "Knowware Consulting." He is helping people in the Boise area by providing video services, computer training services, computer repair and maintenance services, and occasional software development for clients.
We hope that you enjoy our site and find it useful. Come back and visit us as we expand it and add more links, tools, and programs.
~#_
- Knowware
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