MyBible software review
It goes without saying that for ministers on the go that probably the most important piece of software almost must be a decent, reliable bible program.
And, as anybody who has been in the PDA business any amount of time knows, picking a compatible version can be difficult. The market is not exactly sparse, so it usually boils down to functionality and ease of use.
MyBible by Servant Software & Laridian, with its combination of ease of use and accompanying software (e.g. Daily Reader), really wowed me.
MyBible came in a footprint that was workable (by my standards).
The first thing that caught my eye was the number of different versions available. See, I am one of those weirdos that actually prefers KJV. I liked that I had more than one version to choose from.
User interface was far from gaudy. It looked, felt (daresay smelled) like you would imagine an electronic bible should feel. It felt important without being overzealous. I hate to admit, but this is important to me. I want my electronic bible to mirror my physical one. What I liked about Mybible is the fact that it seemed to do that for me in an effortless manner.
Actual scripture can be navigated by book. I found another "wow". For Palm devices with 5-way buttons, you can scroll, select specific books all with the buttons, which allows you to use your device one-handed with MyBible. Perfect if you need and extra hand to hold on to a rambunctious toddler in church.
It also allowed way more than just a slight degree of customization. You can tweak the appearance, down to the font and verse indicators. You can choose to whether or not you want to use the nifty highlight function, and what color you want to use.
This highlight function became indispensable to me in the short time I used this program. It allows you, of course, to highlight verses for future reference. And, you are not forced to use just yellow.
You can also "split" the screen with multiple bible versions, and choose them to be synchronized to the topmost version.
On a whim, I made up a mock "sermon". The functionality of this software helped greatly. The length-adjustable search function helped me find relevant and linked verses.
The accompanying software was phenomenal. The bible dictionary was excellent, even though I forgot it was a dictionary after a while. After I read an article on the speculative Assumption of Moses, I was hooked. It became my own portable Wikipedia of biblical facts. I absolutely loved it.
Daily Reader helps to break down your study of the bible into manageable, recordable fragments. I used it for its morning and evening devotionals, which I found a valuable addition to my own readings. It even had reminders.
Brevity will not allow me to say more about this well designed piece of software. What I can say is that it can be a blessing for you, as it is for me.
Please visit the Laridian website for more information on this software and more bible-related software.
YIC,
Tre Lawrence
And, as anybody who has been in the PDA business any amount of time knows, picking a compatible version can be difficult. The market is not exactly sparse, so it usually boils down to functionality and ease of use.
MyBible by Servant Software & Laridian, with its combination of ease of use and accompanying software (e.g. Daily Reader), really wowed me.
MyBible came in a footprint that was workable (by my standards).
The first thing that caught my eye was the number of different versions available. See, I am one of those weirdos that actually prefers KJV. I liked that I had more than one version to choose from.
User interface was far from gaudy. It looked, felt (daresay smelled) like you would imagine an electronic bible should feel. It felt important without being overzealous. I hate to admit, but this is important to me. I want my electronic bible to mirror my physical one. What I liked about Mybible is the fact that it seemed to do that for me in an effortless manner.
Actual scripture can be navigated by book. I found another "wow". For Palm devices with 5-way buttons, you can scroll, select specific books all with the buttons, which allows you to use your device one-handed with MyBible. Perfect if you need and extra hand to hold on to a rambunctious toddler in church.
It also allowed way more than just a slight degree of customization. You can tweak the appearance, down to the font and verse indicators. You can choose to whether or not you want to use the nifty highlight function, and what color you want to use.
This highlight function became indispensable to me in the short time I used this program. It allows you, of course, to highlight verses for future reference. And, you are not forced to use just yellow.
You can also "split" the screen with multiple bible versions, and choose them to be synchronized to the topmost version.
On a whim, I made up a mock "sermon". The functionality of this software helped greatly. The length-adjustable search function helped me find relevant and linked verses.
The accompanying software was phenomenal. The bible dictionary was excellent, even though I forgot it was a dictionary after a while. After I read an article on the speculative Assumption of Moses, I was hooked. It became my own portable Wikipedia of biblical facts. I absolutely loved it.
Daily Reader helps to break down your study of the bible into manageable, recordable fragments. I used it for its morning and evening devotionals, which I found a valuable addition to my own readings. It even had reminders.
Brevity will not allow me to say more about this well designed piece of software. What I can say is that it can be a blessing for you, as it is for me.
Please visit the Laridian website for more information on this software and more bible-related software.
YIC,
Tre Lawrence
posted by Tre Lawrence @ 1/25/2006 09:17:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I use MyBible and I agree that it's very nice. A couple of notes, though. First of all, if you switch to Pocket PC versions, you have to repurchase all the software and the Bibles. I don't think it's their choice... it probably has more to do with the licenses they negotiated with the copyright holders. And they do offer a discount for users who are switching platforms if you contact them about it. So when I first moved from PalmOS to PPC, I moved to eSword for PPC which is awesome and free. (I chose MKJV translation, which isn't like NIV or NKJV, but was okay for me.) Secondly, while they have some awesome study guides in the Theological dict and the Commentary, you find out quickly that the ease of use is pretty much not there. On a small screen like a Treo it's even worse. In the bottom window (the only place you can open those reference works), you can only scroll by tapping on the screen these really really really really tiny arrows up or down where the screen split line is. I can't express enough how much that renders the wonderful study aids nearly useless. It's really a shame and I hope they address that in an upgrade really soon because it spoils what is otherwise a great piece of software. But even so, I really like it! And the Daily Reader is a little aged in the interface, but is good enough. Plus it also has the One Year Bible reading plan which is by far my favorite. Kudos to Laridian, but I sure wish they would make it so you can scroll the reference guides in a more practical manner!!!!!
I couldn't agree with Tre more. I've used Laridian Bibles for years, as well as many others (QuickVerse, eSword, Olive Tree, and some others I'm sure I'm forgetting) At one point several years ago, I worked for a large ministry in North Carolina, and one of my primary functions was hand held support of project managers who literally traveled the globe. Every one that I setup (probably more than 30 users) had Laridian Bibles on their Palm devices and loved it for it's ease of use. It's truly a remarkable, and I believe, superior product. To Bob's point, I haven't used any of the commentaries or anything like that with Laridian, so I wouldn't be able to speak to those. Very recently, I too left the Palm platform for PPC (I hope to share thoughts on that soon in this forum if Antoine is willing to share what I'm going to send him) and although I found MyBible slightly more difficult to use on the PPC I still think it's better than any other product of it's kind out there. And to be fair, as someone who's been a Palm advocate, and user for the past 8 years, my difficulty in crossing platforms may be due to my familiarity with the product on the Palm platform. But I still give it two big thumbs up.
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