MacHighway gives anyone a web presence in 30 minutes

by Emerson Dameron
November 18, 2014

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When almost everyone could use a strong web presence, there is no such thing as 'too simple.' It's about getting stuff done.

Today is day one for the MacHighway Site Builder, a new platform from long-time Mac developer Chris Graves and his team. It is the latest step for a company that has been in the Mac business since 1997, and a founder who has been tinkering with Apple products since they were introduced in the '70s.

The product will compete directly with SquareSpace, Wordpress, and other basic site-constructing tools in a few important ways. Features such as domain names, email, SEO, and a wealth of e-commerce features will come bundled in one product. It will help create stylish sites from scratch that are free of outside advertising. And it will leverage Graves's expertise in, and love for, Mac culture.

The Site Builder doesn't need Mac hardware to function, but it is built on Mac principles, which Graves boils down to simplicity. “It just works,” he said. “You can get stuff done."


MacHighway Sitebuilder from Travellng Cat (TJotL, Ltd.) on Vimeo.

"People talk about how simple Wordpress is,” said Graves, but often don't take into account the difficulties that a rank novice can have setting up a domain, scouring the Codex for information, and possibly calling in outside developers when scope creep kicks in. “You've gotta be kidding me. It's pretty arcane. It's a great blogging software,” he says, but in terms of full-service websites, "it's still complicated." By contrast, he said, with MacHighway's product, “in a matter of half an hour, you have a web presence."

Graves contributes to Colorado creative culture in many ways besides helping people build websites. His interest in Mac publishing technology dovetailed his efforts to create a magazine – he did much of the heavy lifting on the Denver arts periodical The Invisible Sun. His first love, starting at age eight, was film. He collaborated with South Park co-creator Trey Parker on American History and Cannibal: The Musical, and has recently resumed his film work, always shooting in Colorado. Since well before he "rolled out of bed, worked on the company for nine months straight, and went to the gas station across the street to get a danish," he has been a beloved and influential local character.

Yet despite his public-figure status, the MacHighway team doesn't have any grand launch plans in mind for the Site Builder. They may raise a mug at Bardo Coffee House, which Graves owns. But Graves said that his product “speaks for itself. It's either compelling for customers or its not. I think it's compelling, and I think people get the message."

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