There was a time when the internet felt very different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before every company had a social media team. Before breaking news travelled instantly through TikTok, Instagram and push notifications. Before every rumour appeared on a dozen websites within seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a period when a teenager with an interest in technology, an iPhone and a willingness to spend an unreasonable amount of time online could actually build something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me, that something was RazorianFly.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Some people knew me by my real name, Arron Hirst. A lot more people knew me simply as RazorianFly<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What started as a place to write about Apple and mobile technology eventually became a genuine technology publication, reaching a worldwide audience and, at its height, around 100,000 visitors a month<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was referenced by some of the biggest technology publications of the era, including MacRumors, Engadget and WIRED, and became the foundation for much of what I would go on to do professionally. (Medium<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the numbers aren\u2019t really the interesting part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The interesting part is how it happened<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n My interest in technology and design came first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was fascinated by Apple, but also by the visual side of technology: icons, interfaces, websites and the way software could be presented. In the late 2000s, the iPhone was still a relatively new platform, and the App Store was becoming a completely new ecosystem for developers and users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That was the world I wanted to be part of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I became active in the MacRumors community under the name razorianfly<\/strong> as early as 2007. Looking back at those old posts is quite strange because you can see the beginnings of the person and writer I would eventually become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wasn\u2019t simply interested in owning Apple products. I wanted to understand them, talk about them, discover what developers were building and, eventually, write about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The name RazorianFly gradually became my identity online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then it became a website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n RazorianFly originally existed as a relatively small personal project centred around Apple, the iPhone, iPod touch and the rapidly growing App Store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was the era of the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, when an application could suddenly become news simply because it did something clever that nobody had thought of before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The App Store was still young enough that there was a genuine sense of discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were independent developers making interesting things. There were hacks and workarounds. There were rumours about what Apple might do next. There were new applications appearing every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And there was an audience hungry for someone to find those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That became the niche RazorianFly occupied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The site wasn\u2019t trying to compete with Apple itself or become another enormous technology corporation. It was, fundamentally, one person obsessively following an industry he loved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That obsession turned out to be useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the things that made RazorianFly different was that it wasn\u2019t just about repeating Apple\u2019s press releases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wanted to actually use<\/em> things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were app reviews, first looks, developer stories, rumours, opinion pieces and breaking news. The site covered the rapidly evolving iPhone and iPod touch ecosystem at a time when there were relatively few places dedicated to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of the surviving material gives a pretty good idea of what that looked like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2008, for example, I was writing about the possibility of bringing Archer Maclean\u2019s Mercury<\/em> from PSP to the iPhone, even contacting the developer to ask about the possibility. (MacRumors Forums<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were also stories around new iPhone games such as Zombie Mansion<\/em>, where I published gameplay footage and gathered feedback from readers and developers. (MacRumors Forums<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n And there was the increasingly strange and fascinating world of early App Store discoveries \u2014 including the infamous period when people were finding unusual ways to enable Japanese Emoji on non-Japanese iPhones. (MacRumors Forums<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n These might sound like small stories today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time, they were exactly the sort of stories that made the early iPhone community exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n As RazorianFly grew, so did the range of things I covered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The site became increasingly focused on the wider mobile technology ecosystem: applications, developers, iPhone hardware, iOS, rumours and the rapidly developing culture surrounding Apple\u2019s products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also became increasingly interested in reviewing applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One surviving example is a review of PositionApp<\/strong>, an early utility for tracking App Store rankings. The review is a good snapshot of the era: the App Store had already passed 100,000 apps and developers were desperately looking for ways to understand where their applications were sitting in Apple\u2019s charts. (razorianflyofficial<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n That relationship with developers became important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RazorianFly wasn\u2019t simply a news site that happened to write about apps. It became part of the ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Developers would send information, products and applications. Readers would discover things through the site. Other publications would pick up stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The little blog was becoming part of the larger technology news cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, RazorianFly stopped feeling like a hobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2017, looking back on the previous nine years, I described it as a blog that had grown from an interest in Apple and mobile technology into a site with a worldwide audience and a following of its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I also described the experience rather jokingly as becoming known as a \u201cprofessional blogger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That description probably says more about the era than anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There wasn\u2019t really a career path called \u201cprofessional blogger\u201d when I started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There certainly wasn\u2019t a course telling you how to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You simply had to build something people wanted to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And somehow, I had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most rewarding parts of running RazorianFly was seeing stories escape the little website they originated on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other technology publications began linking to the site and using RazorianFly as a source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That included some very recognisable names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2010, for example, WIRED referenced a RazorianFly report concerning a possible iOS 4.0.1 update during the controversy surrounding the iPhone 4\u2019s antenna and reception problems. (WIRED<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Engadget also linked to RazorianFly when reporting on the disappearance of Skyfire from the App Store, noting that RazorianFly readers were reporting the application disappearing in multiple countries. (Engadget<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n In another case, 9to5Mac cited RazorianFly alongside MacRumors when investigating claims that Apple had activated an iOS \u201ckill switch\u201d following the removal of an application from the App Store. (9to5Mac<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Techmeme\u2019s contemporary news roundups showed RazorianFly appearing in the same Apple news ecosystem as publications such as MacRumors, AppleInsider, Engadget, MacStories and others. (Techmeme<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n That was the point at which I realised the site wasn\u2019t simply being read by friends or people who happened to stumble across it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was part of the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n If there was a period that really demonstrated how far RazorianFly had come, it was probably the iPhone 4 era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The iPhone 4 was one of Apple\u2019s biggest launches, and the controversy surrounding its antenna became one of the defining technology stories of 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RazorianFly was right in the middle of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were reports, photographs, reader observations and breaking developments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At one point, the site reported on scratches appearing on the stainless-steel antenna bands of an iPhone 4 when used with Apple\u2019s Bumper case. The story was subsequently covered by international technology sites. (iDevice.ro<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were also reports surrounding the white iPhone 4, App Store developments, iOS updates and Apple\u2019s increasingly complicated relationship with its developers and customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The site had effectively become a small newsroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Except there wasn\u2019t a newsroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the reasons I think RazorianFly worked was because its timing was almost perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The App Store was exploding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Developers were trying to work out how to get noticed. Users were trying to find good applications amongst an ever-growing catalogue. Apple was creating an entirely new software economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And technology blogs became the bridge between those two groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RazorianFly became part of that bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The site\u2019s reviews and coverage gave developers another way of getting their applications in front of people, while readers could discover software they probably wouldn\u2019t have found simply by browsing Apple\u2019s App Store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The site also developed relationships with other publications and developers, which helped it grow beyond its original audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By the time I eventually moved on, the site was attracting around 100,000 visitors every month<\/strong> \u2014 a remarkable figure for something that had begun as a personal interest project. (Medium<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n RazorianFly eventually became more than a website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It became a platform from which other projects could grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of those was AppChase<\/strong>, which developed into a way of tracking applications and other media through iTunes-related services. Contemporary company information describes Razorian Fly as expanding to include the AppChase brand toward the end of 2013. (Crunchbase<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were also design projects and other branches of the wider RazorianFly ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the blog became the major part of my online identity, I had also been exploring freelance graphic design through RFlyGD.com<\/a>, including iPhone and iPod touch icon design. Old MacRumors posts from 2008 show me developing the site, asking for criticism and refining its design based on community feedback. (MacRumors Forums<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n That design background remained important throughout RazorianFly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The site wasn\u2019t just about the words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was about the presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n By 2017, I had spent roughly nine years building the RazorianFly identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nine years is a long time on the internet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Technology had changed enormously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The iPhone had gone from a revolutionary new product to one of the most important consumer products in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The App Store had transformed software distribution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media had changed the way people consumed news. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And blogging itself was no longer the strange new medium it had been when I started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In February 2017, I made the decision to rebrand RazorianFly as RAZMAG<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea was to take the brand somewhere broader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than concentrating almost exclusively on Apple, the new direction was intended to explore pop culture more generally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a difficult decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After eight years of building a trusted name, walking away from the RazorianFly identity felt like leaving something behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it also felt like the natural next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In July 2017, I published a piece titled \u201cI\u2019m getting out of blogging.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was essentially the closing chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wrote that I was moving away from blogging about Apple and from writing generally, explaining that I wanted to be known for more than simply running blogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That doesn\u2019t mean RazorianFly stopped mattering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quite the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By then, the experience of running it had shaped practically everything that came afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had learned how to write.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to build websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to work with developers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to communicate with an audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to spot a story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How to turn an idea into something people actually cared about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those skills became the foundation for later work, including writing roles at sites such as 148Apps<\/strong> and AppBoy<\/strong>, where I went on to produce features and reviews for much larger audiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My current personal site still describes RazorianFly as the project for which I am perhaps best known, and notes recognition from publications including the New York Times<\/em>, MacRumors and Mashable. (ArronHirst.com<\/a>\u2060)<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s easy to look back at an old technology blog and think:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was just a blog.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But that misses what the internet was like at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RazorianFly existed during a period when independent websites could genuinely influence what people discovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A story could start with one person noticing something on an iPhone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That person could write about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A reader could share it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another technology site could pick it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then a much larger publication could report on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly, something that had started on a small website in the UK was being discussed around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That happened repeatedly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nBefore RazorianFly<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe early years<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFinding a voice<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nMore than just Apple news<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe moment it became real<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nBeing picked up by the bigger sites<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe iPhone 4 era<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe App Store became an industry \u2014 and RazorianFly grew with it<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nBeyond the website<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nFrom RazorianFly to RAZMAG<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nLeaving Apple blogging behind<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhat was the actual impact?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n