Revisiting A Different View of e-Bibles
Having gotten back into using the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, I have wanted to move into one of the main reasons that I have for getting it - to invogorate how I read, study, and journal the Bible. That being said, there has not been a lot done in this area on the Internet Tablet, and part of it is probably because no-one really knows what to do.
Let's start with a few simple situations, and then go from there:
- You are at a cafe on a nice day, and would like to read the Bible. There is wifi and so using it would be preferred. Services such as iPocketBible, eBible, and YouVersion are available, and so you read and do. While they are different in what they offer, the key thing here is that you have the ability to read while online, and do a few things on top of that.
- You are in the car as a passenger, and would like to continue your reading that you started at the cafe. Being that you are not near a hotspot, the only options for connecting online would be through your mobile phone. However, that could get expensive quickly. So you decide to fire up a bible reader and go from there. And yes, that works too, but the notes are a seperate application, and you just lost your place that you had in the online version you were reading.
- You are at home, away from the fuss of a day and want to dig in a bit deeper to the passages you were reading before. So you fireup the browser, the bible reader, and the notes application. And then have at your side a few additional references that you use when studying. This only lasts for a few minutes though before you decide to move completely to paper and pen because of the constant switching that has to happen.
In looking at the situations described above, one can see the benefits and the disadvantages of reading a Bible on an electronic device. When the Bible is so seperated from the tasks of reading, studying, and sharing, what should be a convience becomes a chore.
So my proposal/question is to make a better Bible reader for mobile devices that takes these situations into account. One part of this is the Bibles, another part of this notes, and yet another part is the user interface of it all.
I see a good platform on my Internet Tablet in terms of the Notes application. But I am not yet sure if it is something that can be extended by the way of plugins to other programs. Because being able to plug in the Notes app to the browser would make for an easy way to bookmark and annotate passages.
Then I also see the good stuff in terms of web applications for reading the Bible, but there has to be a way to save content on the device (even if for a short time) so that one could read when there is no Internet connection.
When I think about reading effectively on mobile devices, motivation to read is one part. But having a tool that works effecitvely is another that is usually the stumbling block.
Labels: Bible, community, internet tablet, N800, Nokia, reading, tech, usablity
posted by Antoine @ 1/11/2008 08:25:00 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
There are a few things that I think are really holding electronic Bibles back.
1) Incompatible Bible formats/DRM.
This means you buy the same content over and over every time you switch the reading software. Not good for the consumer. Great for the seller.
2) No standard notes format.
I don't take notes because I don't expect to be able to keep them if I switch software. We need a separate notes file, that can be synched to an online account regardless of the client software used to generate the notes, and which can have notes tied to a book/chapter/verse/section and can be tied to your personal categories like "Research" or "Background" or "Personal Experience" or "Changed my life" or "Sermon outline".
Just think - you could basically put all your thoughts in one place and it would be like your own personal commentary set.
Some people might even want to make their comments shared online, so we could see what others have to say about certain passages.
3) A way to easily construct sermons or take sermon notes
Right now, I don't see any software for mobiles, at least, that lets me create sermon outlines with easy links to the supporting scripture text, or that lets me quickly and easily take sermon notes.
I'd like to see live note taking work like a chronological list that lets you make notes, and insert scripture references with a click into the notes, and then reorder as desired. Shouldn't be too hard to create. Something not very different should work great for developing sermon outlines with the scriptures embedded and with a short form that has a key points summary with just the scripture reference instead of the full text.
Come on guys, you developers do the impossible just to get a nice product out there. Where's your creativity to make it useful beyond just Bible reading and lookups?!!!!
Good post there Bob; I agree.
The way I see it currently:
YouVersion has the right idea with collaboration; iPocketBible (Laridian) has the right idea with browser use; and Bible+/OliveTree/Others have the right idea in terms of a local app.
Putting those things together shouldn't be very hard towards making something that is truly revolutionary and just works.
Interesting article. I do all of my Bible study offline, yet everything else I do is online. I have several computers, a light laptop, an n800 tablet and an unlimited data plan on my cell phone. It's just never occurred to me to even use them for Bible Study other than searching between Bible versions.
Actually, I have several problems with online Bible study--at least as I've experienced it.
If I had to reduce it to two, simple points--interface and speed. Designing an interface cannot be an afterthought. In Bible study, it _really_ needs to be rethought, and thought carefully from start to finish.
Until then, I'll stick with my own software. :-)
However, one point that I find odd, is how little noise I hear about the Sword Project LINK
It is a solid attempt to bring Open Source, and Free software to the realm of Bible study. It is cross platform, and full of decent to amazing resources. Sure, it may not have the latest, trendy translations or books, but it is solid stuff. In fact, if it got mroe noise, I suspect that we would see some more publishers get on board like the publishers of the ESV have. The best part is that its files are an open format that anybody can use, or use the sword backend for any front-end. For instance, compare the two Linux-based apps, which are barely similar, and then MacSword, which is a completely different animal all together. There is lots of potential to answer everybody's complaints about the situation in Bible software today--yet it seems to be ignored... Not really sure why...
-Jon
Post a Comment
<< Home