We thought it would be a good idea to talk a bit about ourselves, the makers behind Ronnie Robot. We want to prove to the world that we aren’t all just robots and that Ronnie is also more than just a robot. We love robots which is why Ronnie has a range of emotions and interests. Anyway, here is a little bit about us…
Who we are:
Erik-
“I spend a lot of time with my family. I’ve got three boys and we all love to go visit OMSI. We also like to travel to see the rest of our family, really, it’s all about survival with three children. I also like to read books about robots.”
Jon-
“The last book I finished was about string theory, I am an apple fan and I’ve watched the Shaw Shank Redemption too many times. I’m struggling to teaching myself Spanish and I take my daughter on Father’s Day to Gifford Pinchot National Forest every year for a nice hike. We are also huge Timber’s fans.”
Jenni-
“I like to hang out with friends and go to various restaurants and music venues in Portland, there’s so much to do and see here. We have a wonderful art community in this city. I enjoy taking vacations to warm places during the rainy season. I enjoy art of all kinds, especially street art and screen printing.
What it’s about for us:
Erik-
“I like playing games with my kids and I see the power of the iPad to teach and entertain them. As a kid, we had an Apple 2C and we played Oregon Trail. It was one of the very few things that my parents ever splurged on was us having a computer at home. One of the gifts my parents gave to me was this really powerful tool for education and learning so I want to give that gift to not just my kids, but other kids as well.
Jon-
“First off, I wanted to do something that makes people happy and I have a theory that games will make people happy. When I was going through college I worked with the family business manufacturing doll houses and my dad said to me at one point “Isn’t it great that what we do makes people happy?” I took that to heart and I want to do something that the end result makes people happy.
Jenni-
“I was lucky enough to have Atari as a kid growing up, so I played a lot of Combat, Space Invaders and Pac Man. My dad really liked playing Combat with me as a two player game. My parents were on a bowling league for a few years, so when I went with them I spent a lot of time in the arcade at the bowling ally. I played a lot of Pole Position because I loved being able to drive a race car. I’ve always enjoyed video games and the different ways people come up with ways to make them.”
Where it began:
Erik-
“I was at the Microsoft campus in Redmond as Windows 8 was rolled out to the public, and I realized that I didn’t want to be involved with it at all. I had been experimenting with different prototype applications on the iPad and I loved how there were all these great applications. It became clear that Windows 8 was not about the same thing that the iPad is about. It was just a feeling about how Windows 8 was not the right way to do things.
When did it start:
The end of 2013 is when it actually started, but Ronnie was conceived during a lunch time conversation in 2012.