Bible Software by Bob Anderson (part 1)
We live today in a time of great technological advances, and this advancement has affected the Christian world in many ways. Chief among these are the changes technology has brought to the task of Bible study. Bible study software for the PC has been available for several decades now, and the applications available are very, very many, almost endless.
One of the newest technological developments in the last decade has been the appearance of the handheld computing device. These devices, sold under a variety of brands, are commonplace now, even being incorporated into cell phones. These devices are furnished with an impressive array of applications, and in the Christian world one of the most popular types of applications is, again, Bible study software. Typically, handheld Bible software allows the user to view the Scriptures in various types of translations, search for Bible text (like a printed concordance), view various types of references (commentaries, dictionaries, and the like), and view various spiritual writings (daily devotionals, Bible studies, e-Books) . Many handheld Bible applications even allow the user to record “notes” or comments on specific verses, and “attach” (associate) those notes to the verses. The ability to create notes on specific passages is particularly helpful to the Bible student.
However, those creating study notes on their handheld face a challenge: Once the study notes have been created what happens to that information? With some handheld Bible software applications, the user-created study note is visible only within the handheld application itself! If the user also has PC-based Bible software, it would be extremely valuable to be able to transfer this information from the handheld application to the PC application. After all, there needs to be one place where all notes are kept – storing different kinds of information within different applications produces disorganization and fragmentation!
An additional challenge is that there are a number of different handheld Bible applications, and there are also many PC Bible applications. Normally one cannot link these applications directly for the transfer of information. What’s a Bible student to do?
Important Points to Consider
There are several issues to consider here:
1). How does the handheld Bible application store user created notes?
2). Are those notes accessible to the user outside of the handheld application? For example, can the notes be viewed or edited on the PC, or is this note information stored in a proprietary format that cannot be viewed by the user?
3). It is important to understand that if the note file information cannot be viewed outside of its handheld application, then it cannot be brought in (at least directly) to the PC application such as Bible software or word processing documents. Workarounds are usually not very efficient (if they are available at all – we will look at one later in this article.)
In this article I will examine the following applications:
For the handheld: Laridian MyBible and Olive Tree BibleReader
For the PC: Libronix (Logos), WORDsearch 7, and e-Sword
Stay tuned for part two tomorrow.
One of the newest technological developments in the last decade has been the appearance of the handheld computing device. These devices, sold under a variety of brands, are commonplace now, even being incorporated into cell phones. These devices are furnished with an impressive array of applications, and in the Christian world one of the most popular types of applications is, again, Bible study software. Typically, handheld Bible software allows the user to view the Scriptures in various types of translations, search for Bible text (like a printed concordance), view various types of references (commentaries, dictionaries, and the like), and view various spiritual writings (daily devotionals, Bible studies, e-Books) . Many handheld Bible applications even allow the user to record “notes” or comments on specific verses, and “attach” (associate) those notes to the verses. The ability to create notes on specific passages is particularly helpful to the Bible student.
However, those creating study notes on their handheld face a challenge: Once the study notes have been created what happens to that information? With some handheld Bible software applications, the user-created study note is visible only within the handheld application itself! If the user also has PC-based Bible software, it would be extremely valuable to be able to transfer this information from the handheld application to the PC application. After all, there needs to be one place where all notes are kept – storing different kinds of information within different applications produces disorganization and fragmentation!
An additional challenge is that there are a number of different handheld Bible applications, and there are also many PC Bible applications. Normally one cannot link these applications directly for the transfer of information. What’s a Bible student to do?
Important Points to Consider
There are several issues to consider here:
1). How does the handheld Bible application store user created notes?
2). Are those notes accessible to the user outside of the handheld application? For example, can the notes be viewed or edited on the PC, or is this note information stored in a proprietary format that cannot be viewed by the user?
3). It is important to understand that if the note file information cannot be viewed outside of its handheld application, then it cannot be brought in (at least directly) to the PC application such as Bible software or word processing documents. Workarounds are usually not very efficient (if they are available at all – we will look at one later in this article.)
In this article I will examine the following applications:
For the handheld: Laridian MyBible and Olive Tree BibleReader
For the PC: Libronix (Logos), WORDsearch 7, and e-Sword
Stay tuned for part two tomorrow.
posted by Antoine @ 12/18/2006 02:27:00 PM
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