Strange Software is a small, independent UK software house. Since 1987, we've completed hundreds of projects for clients, large and small, across the UK and around the world.
We've kept ourselves as a small, personal concern because our value and expertise is in actually doing the job... solving problems, writing code, designing user-interfaces, testing and debugging. We like to create and to innovate and delight in producing effective and successful applications.
We understand that exploiting technology properly means getting our hands dirty. We invest continually in new equipment and software and spend as much time as we can learning, experimenting and exploring. We don't claim to "have one of everything" (though we came pretty close in our early days) but we have built-up and continue to enhance an impressive array of systems that lets us develop for, and properly test in, a wide variety of environments.
But it's not just about having the kit.
We started with a strong technical expertise that goes back to the first microcomputers (and some way beyond) and have been developing our experience and skills ever since. We've worked on many varied projects on all kinds of hardware with all manner of languages and operating systems. It gives us a real fundamental model of how things work and makes us well-placed to deal with difficult problems, esoteric requirements and to work in new and developing areas.
Equally, we've worked with clients from small start-ups and one man bands to big publishing firms, large public companies, blue chip corporations and government departments, and in all manner of industries such as horticulture, law, medicine, manufacturing, maritime, publishing and pensions. So we've picked up a bit about how business works. We believe we're unusually good at discussing projects and requirements in plain, easily-understood terms. And we're unfixated and unphased by this year's latest technology buzzwords, fancy jargon and supposedly revolutionary products. And in a dull, rather down-to-earth sort of way, our preferred business model is to design and develop something that will last you for years, rather than selling you something that doesn't quite work and needs replacing or upgrading on a regular basis.
Strange Software is based in Norfolk, UK. Some of our regular clients are nearby, others are across the country as well as in Europe, the United States and even, in one case, Australia (we've been working remotely and shipping jobs around the world via high-speed modem since long before there was a World Wide Web). We are regularly in London, Cambridge and Norwich and happy to travel to other locations when appropriate.
Carl Phillips A skilled software developer and a devil with a debugger, Carl abandoned school shortly after acquiring one of the first single-board microcomputers and subsequently demanded a job at one of the UK's first Apple dealers. He joined Microsoft when it set up a UK office and for a time headed up the company's technical side in Europe, helping hardware manufacturers to bring languages and operating systems up on their systems. He set up Strange Software in 1987 which has kept him busy since.
Max Phillips Max started out writing about rather than for computers, a familiar name and occasionally face in UK computer magazines during the early 80s, as well as writing books, manuals and brochures and, for a while, advertisements for firms such as Microsoft, Caere and Radius at a trendy London design agency. He co-founded Strange in 1987.