It all started because I'm a movie fan.
In 1998, I've written myself a tool for my own usage. It was a Microsoft Access app that automatically fetched data from the IMDb and displayed the database (already) in a dual-pane window.
Sorry I don't remember well the details, it was the last century...
I've moved from Microsoft Access to Visual Basic, and I remember the interface was just an embedded Internet Explorer window where everything was written in HTML and modified by accessing the DOM.
Then I've moved from Visual Basic to C++ and it's been a painful change for me. Because I'm on my own with no one to give me any advice about programming, I've had a hard time to get a grasp on C++. It was like I didn't know how to program anymore. I've given up completely for 6 months, and when I got back to it, I don't know why it finally worked out.
One day I've decided to make my app public. It was free but I hoped to make a living from it thanks to the affiliation with CDuniverse and Amazon (I get a small percentage when users buy a DVD). Unfortunately this didn't work out and I made only a few bucks.
When my father died, I used my inheritance to give up my job and work full time on Coollector, hoping that the program would make money soon enough. But it didn't happen, and when my money ran dry, I should have given up, but I'm stubborn and instead I sold my appartment.
I don't remember the exact time frame, but at some point I've collaborated for several years with my cousin Stephane who helped me with maintaining the database while I was doing the programming. He's probably more reasonable than me, hence he finally gave up, while me, well, I'm stubborn...
Abubakar Siddique wrote:
I doubt it! Because I still don't make a decent living, I've had to move to my mother's house. I'm 46. I'm a failure. But I've put so much into this app, I'm proud of what I've built, I can't give up, even when I go through hard times. If I could go back in time though, I would not do it again and I'd have a normal life instead.