About TinyOrange

The Beginning

Since 1980, when I was six years old, I've had a fascination with computers. That fascination grew into a love of coding when I got my first home computer – a ZX81. For over four decades, I've been writing code and exploring new programming languages.

From those early days of building simple applications in BASIC, I expanded my knowledge to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, creating websites and web apps using just a text editor and browser. More recently, I've worked with Python and modern frameworks to build progressive web applications.

Two Worlds, One Approach

Alongside coding, I built a professional career as a gardener and designer. This unique combination has shaped my approach to technology in unexpected ways.

Gardening taught me patience, systems thinking, and how elements interact over time. You learn to envision how spaces will develop and transform – sometimes over years. In coding, I can visualise solutions before writing a single line of code. This creates a surprisingly direct line between concept and creation.

Whether I'm designing a garden or developing an application, I approach both with the same logical mindset, creative problem-solving, and attention to how the pieces work together as a cohesive system.

Why These Tools Exist

I work in vehicle transport. I've used the software that's available. Most of it is either overpriced enterprise systems designed for massive fleets, or generic tools that don't understand the industry.

So I started building my own.

Karl exists because the app I was given as a freelance driver was terrible. Rather than complain, I built something better – solving the frustrations one by one and adding features as I needed them. Eddy exists because I watched enquiries get missed at nights and weekends. Hourglass exists because I needed a simple way to track time across multiple clients without wrestling with spreadsheets.

Vivian is different – I'm building it so my children can create their own websites with zero coding knowledge. Just edit a Google Doc, organise images in Google Drive folders, and the site builds itself.

These aren't theoretical solutions from a startup that interviewed some transport companies once. They're tools built to solve real problems for real people.

I still build things for fun too – check out the Labs.

The Approach

My ongoing interest in emerging technologies led me to explore Large Language Models, investigating their capabilities, limitations, and ethical applications. But I approach AI the same way I approach everything else – practically.

Where AI genuinely helps, I use it. Where reliable logic works better, I use that instead. No technology for technology's sake. Just tools that work.

That's TinyOrange. Practical software for transport and trade, built by someone who does the work.