Can Fellowhship and Study Really Be Done Mobile?
Basing this question of an article of a similar title (Is Web Work Really Going to My Mobile Device?); what about fellowship and study makes them really conductive to using mobile devices, and what about those two makes mobile devices a non-issue?
Speaking on one side as a person who has forced a good bit of mobility into his studies, there is certainly an advantage of being able to study anytime and anywhere. Also, its made me less reliant on notes as more things have had to sit in my head for retrevial since software isn't as great as I would like it to be.
But for those whom I know don't like the idea of mobile devices being a part of a study, they cite cost of the deivce, device fraility, service availability, software, and a slew of other reasons (excuses). I understand them all, and encounter a good deal of them. I guess I am just the kind of person who would walk thru those issues rather than let them be a determent.
So what about you and your friends and family? For every one of you who can go mobile, there are those near to you who do not. What are some of those perspectives and what does that say about the ability to use mobile tech as agents within fellowship and study?
Labels: Bible, community, computer, Hardware, Laptop, mobile, mobility, smartphone, software, study
posted by Antoine @ 7/26/2008 10:00:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I'm not sure about where you are heading with this line of thought, but I use my Palm (and now Palm Treo) frequently in discussions with friends, and even in Bible studies, and once, while behind the pulpit. In our tiny fellowship (under a dozen people here), everybody knows that the preacher has a Palm with a complete Bible, commentaries, dictionaries and lexicons on it (I use Palm Bible+ together with RoadLingua). It is frequently whipped out during discussions, and on one occasion, I was asked a question while preaching (we encourage questions due to the cross-cultural nature--I'm an American preaching in Polish to Poles, and I would rather have the interruptions and know that I'm properly understood), and everybody begged me to dig out the Palm to give a definitive answer. :-) It is a natural part of our church family's life. But, I'm the only one. Everybody here has a phone, but most are simple phones, or feature phones at best. Price is only one factor, the other is complexity. Normal people do not have the patience to learn the intricacies of complex phones.
IMO, this is a _major_ barrier to mobile ministry--it's not the cultural barriers--but the technical ones, and those are the fault of the manufacturers. I had high hopes that the iPhone would change this game, but everybody else is still proving how much they _don't_ get it. Oh well...
Well, them's my thoughts.
-Jon
I can see where my BlackBerry could enhance this. Thinking of how services like Twitter are becoming commonplace, mobile tech is quickly becoming a staple in ministry.
I think it is important to not become so trendy that we forget our roots, so I am happy that mention was made of folks who either can't or won't use tech for ministry.
Post a Comment
<< Home