Did Going Electronic Help or Hinder Your Bible Reading?
Was at Mobile Read a bit ago and they have an interesting (lively) discussion going on speaking on a quote from Steve Jobs (via the NYT) where he says: It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don't read anymore," he said. "Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don't read anymore.Jobs was speaking on the Amazon Kindle eBook reader and its goal of being the "iPod of books." But the comment does bring to light something that many of us in tech have to assess often?
Does using electronic reading devices (eBook, laptop, PDA, smartphone, etc.) help or hinder your Bible reading?
posted by Antoine @ 1/17/2008 09:00:00 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Good, thought-provoking question!
I was going to say that, in my case, it depends...
Bible study has definitely seen an improvement since I started using Online Bible back at v. 3 in DOS! I can accomplish much more, with less time spent flipping through pages, etc. I would never go back to a paper-only system for serious Bible study.
However, while reading your post, I first had doubts, however, regarding simply reading had improved, but then, upon reflection, I have to say that my reading, too, has been enhanced by using, not my computer, but a mobile device--in my case, my Palm. In fact, one of two primary reasons I bought my Palm was for Bible reading and study. I downloaded and installed the free Palm Bible+ software, and accidently discovered the Reading Planner software. One of the first things I did on my Palm was set up a reading plan to read through the Bible in a year. Due to the fact that I was in the midst of moving back to Poland from the States, I fell behind almost immediately, but Reading Planner allowed me to reschedule, and pick up where I left off, and less than a year later, I had done something I haven't done in over 10 years! I had read through the entire Bible in a year! BTW, this has been on top of my daily devotions and sermon prep. This was done entirely in "down time"--waiting in lines, riding the bus or tram, and also, before going to bed at night. Because it was on my Palm, it was easy to pick up where I left off, and if I missed a day, due to scheduling constraints, it was _very_ simple to pick up, and catch up. The Palm made it absolutely dead-simple to accomplish this feat.
Now, this happened in 2006. I thought I would get smart in 2007, and designed a _paper_ system for reading through the Bible. In fact, I'm quite happy with the system as far as it goes (you can read a bit about it on my flickr stream: Bible Study Notebook on Flickr
While it was a great idea, and has been adapted to my sermon prep, it absolutely fell apart as a read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan. I wondered about that, and realized that this was because it depended on my being settled for the period of time that I would be reading. Yes, I _love_ being able to take notes on real paper (not electronic), but, in the end, this was the greatest hindrance. I am sad to admit, but I never finished more than two of 66 books. :-( In fact, I was just reconsidering going back to my Palm when it died an unglorious death this past weekend. :,,(
And yes, I'm shopping for its replacement. :-)
So, in the end, my answer must be an unequivocal YES! Reading on electronic devices has been a great blessing and help. BTW, I almost forgot to mention that reading on my Palm, I was able to always double-tap a word or strongs number to gain deeper insight (via the excellent Plucker interface, RoadLingua, and the Strong's database or ISBE, or any of a number other resources available for RoadLingua--can't beat the combo!)
-Jon
I find that I go back and forth between electronic and paper for reading. I personally use Olive Tree's BibleReader and mobipocket a lot, but I also find myself using my paper Bible as well. For Bible study going electronic is a huge help. For just reading it is hard to beat the experience of paper. However, in my opinion, there are some cases where electronic is better for just reading. The first one is what Jon mentioned above. I always have my smartphone with me so I have my Bible and books with me where ever I am and I can start reading where I left off. The second area I have found using electronic to be much better is when I am at the gym. I can put my smartphone on a stand and start a book auto scrolling while I am on the bike. From that point on I don't have to flip pages or touch the "book". I just read.
For me I know that reading electronicly is good when I completely forget the medium I am reading in and all I am thinking about is what is being said. This frequently happens to me when using BibleReader and mobipocket. However, it doesn't happen as much as when I am reading a paper bible. I think that one of the goal of Bible Software should be to have the user forgot the medium that the are using to get the information. The technology should be invisible when you are just reading.
-Stephen
I know that human eyes can only look at a screen for so long. I don't know if the kindle, palms, or the new mac take that into account.
I imagine the electronic revolution does make writing, publication and re-mixing far, far easier.
@Compassioninpolitics: you make a good point. Though many devices such as the Kindle, most PDAs, and tablets are designed to be read for longer periods. Though nothing is as good as paper in terms of the high dots per inch and resolution needed for easy-on-the-eye reading just yet. For a lot of these devices, one should be using lower resolutions and higher font sizes to maximize the reading and minimize the eye strain.
@Stephen: You said:
"I think that one of the goal of Bible Software should be to have the user forgot the medium that the are using to get the information. The technology should be invisible when you are just reading."
I agree totally. One of the reasons why I tend to harp on user interfaces so much is because right now the software is apparent to the user. One has to do more thinking of how to maneuver around the software, and that takes away from the reading, searching, and interacting-internally with the text. While I'm confident that UI/UX will improve, I'm not sure that its something that older devices will be easily able to take advantage of.
Great responses all :)
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