Press release
Dateline: Largo, Florida
March 13, 1997
For more information, contact: Ro Nagey, ronagey@royalsoftware.com,
813-581-6422
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Today, Royal Software announced the winners of this years “Royals”, the
annual award presented to the best in HyperCard programming. “The entire
staff at Royal Software reviewed not only the programs that have been
submitted to us for development over the last year, but also the authors,
the purposes, and the driving forces of the HyperCard industry. These
awards give recognition to those who have proven themselves to be leaders
in the HyperCard field, and to those products that have helped shape the
HyperCard community,” said Ro Nagey, President and CEO of Royal Software.
The winners of the awards are:
Special Presentation: The first award is presented to Param Singh, Kevin
Calhoun and the HyperCard Development Team for their untiring efforts to
improve HyperCard, and to increase its visibility and viability. After
years of waiting for HyperCard to realize its full potential, the entire
HyperCard community is electrified with the promise of HyperCard 3.0.
Community Service Award: Jaqueline Landman Gay for KeyBoard Talk, a
program that helps autistic children to communicate with the world around
them. This elegant and powerful program opens the door for parents and
teachers to communicate with autistic children. Using either augmentative
communication techniques or the child’s own initiative, autistic children
can let the Macintosh become their voice and talk to a world that was
always closed to them before. Jacqueline, who runs the HyperCard forum on
America Online, had a personal reason for developing this program – her
son is autistic.
Program of the Year: LiveCard, an innovative program that allows Macintosh
users to run their HyperCard stacks over the Internet. Authored by Eric
Oesterle, this CGI allows any browser running on any platform to run
HyperCard. For the first time, the incredible power of HyperCard can be
released across platforms across the world. Amazingly, LiveCard is almost
completely a “drag-and-drop” solution.
Developer of the Year: Dan Gelder for his work in MegaWindows. Working on
a LC II, 17-year-old Dan Gelder is living proof of the elegance of the
Macintosh and of the creativity the Macintoshand HyperCard can release.
Initially a shareware product, MegaWindows [which Dan began when he was
only 15] is now a fully commercial product with fans and users around the
world. Using HyperCard and MegaWindows, end users can create external
windows to their applications that help unleash to the power of HyperCard
and gives the applications truly professional interfaces.
Web Site of the Year: Jim Stephenson created HyperCard Heaven
[http://members.aol.com/HCHeaven/] and immediately became the most
exciting resource for HyperCard news and information on the Web. Jim has
worked, often thanklessly, to make more people aware of the capabilities
of HyperCard. Through his insightful columns and interviews, Jim has
brought the best of the HyperCard programmers to the forefront. Through
this on-line newsletter/magazine, Jim has provided a forum where all
HyperCard users can learn and exchange information that is difficult to
find elsewhere. Jim’s enthusiasm and professional design skills make this
site a regular “must visit” for everyone in the HyperCard community.
The presentation of the awards coincides with Royal Software’s first
anniversary, today, March 13. “Royal wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t
for the hard work and dedication of the authors, and the ingenuity of
their products. These awards refect the goal of our mission
statement-that it is our authors and our customers that allow us to remain
in business.”
HyperCard is arguably the most popular programming language on the
Macintosh today. According to industry experts, an estimated quarter
million Macintosh owners use HyperCard as part of their daily work.
HyperCard, created by Bill Atkinson and others nearly 10 years ago, has
long been recognized for truly making the Macintosh the “computer for the
rest of us”. Today, some of the most advanced features of the World Wide
Web are concepts basic to HyperCard.
Reflecting on the one year anniversary, Al Kelley, Vice President of Royal
Software commented: “We had agreed to the purchase of Heizer Software –
which put us in the HyperCard publishing business – prior to the
announcement of HyperCard 3.0. It was an act of faith on our part: once we
saw how many users of HyperCard existed and their enthusiasm for the
product, we felt confident that we could maintain and expand the product
line.”
According to Ro Nagey: “I was a developer before becoming a publisher.
Since HyperCard 1.0, I have used HyperCard as a major feature in showing
why my clients should standardize on the Macintosh. If any one product can
be said to clearly differentiate the Macintosh platform from the
competition, this is it.”
“What we have seen in our first year is a Renaissance of HyperCard use and
development. We are proud of our small part – but especially proud of the
users and developers that keep using and improving HyperCard. With
HyperCard 3, we expect to see the same explosion of excitement that
existed when HyperCard 1.0 was first announced…however, it will start
with a quarter of a million cheerleaders!”
The Royal Awards will be presented at MacWorld Boston – which will mark
the Tenth Anniversary of HyperCard and, conceivably, the first public
showing of HyperCard 3.
More information on the “Royals”, and the winners as well as submission
information for next years “Royals” can be found at
www.RoyalSoftware.com/RoyalAwards.html
For the best source of tools for hypermedia, check out:
Royal Software, Inc. (http://www.royalsoftware.com)
[including Heizer Software]
800.888.7667 813.581.6422 813.559.0614 [fax]
300 Cedar Lane, Largo FL, 33770-4001
NEW STUFF: Royal QTCX: QuickTime Conferencing Tool!