Mobile Ministry Magazine

I know that MMM harps a lot about ebooks, electronic Bibles and such, but there's really a good reason for doing so - there's no innovation there. At the intersection of faith and mobile tech, at the very least, a Bible reader should be enabling the story and history of Christianity to be better engaged. But, we just haven't seen too many folks push enough. So, here's a little bump called Mag+:

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

Forget what is or isn't possible, watch it and think about how you read - and interact - with the Bible on a contextual basis. Does your Bible reader offer this level of engagement? And if not, shouldn't we help them get to this level of simplicity?

Labels: Context, eBible, eBook, innovation, reading

Last week in Philly, I had lunch with a good friend of mine who is also a pastor of a new church plant in Philly. One of the things that we tend to get to talking about is his use of technology and the many trials and successes that he encounters.

So you can imagine a bit of my surprise when the conversation turned to his Kindle 2 and how he is finding disparate uses for it - even going as far as seeing if it would be a great tool for preaching from. Here's a snippet of his thoughts:

...One thing about me is that I don't like to read unnecessary instructions. I try to see if it's as intuitive as possible without instructions and then I will refer back to the book if need be. The Kindle didn't have much of a learning curve. I toggled through everything to get a feel and wasn't initially thrilled with the feeling of getting my monies worth but I wasn't disappointed either. The look of the words on the screen seemed fake and I would find out later very eye friendly. When I finally started reading some sample materials it was just a good experience. The following days I purchased some books to try to get the fuller effect. What can I say? I loved it. ...

Read the rest of the Amazon Kindle 2 review at Inspire.

One of the things that I liked best about his perspective is that he tends to be one of those people that is not afraid to try something new. Sure, sometimes you end up with egg on your face, but as you try different things, you start to develop and appreciation for the details that God takes when He created us and the world around us.

Labels: eBook, Kindle, pastor

Following up on yesterday's post, we can take a look at a discussion that has been going on at the ebook website Mobile Read. There's a commentary speaking on some comments from a book publisher who explains that cheaper ebooks will destroy the paper publishing industry.

The article goes on to speak about things such as costs and distribution being major factors, and these are; but I do wonder if this is the sentiment of an industry that is not prepared for change.

Speaking as a person who reads print and electronic resources pretty easily, I see the issue (for print), but don't think that one market should hinder the other. If anything, it would be smarter for paper publishing companies to encourage ebooks for some materials.

To those of you who prefer one or ther other, what are some of the reasons for your preference, and do you think that paper publishers have a legitimate gripe about ebooks.

ADDITION/EDIT: I caught this article last night from ARs Technica which gives a good bit more towards the history of ebooks and offers some more perspective from the industry side of things. Its a recommended read.

Labels: eBook, innovation, reading

A day late with the news because of our posting schedule, but nonetheless wanting to highlight another solid Bible reader application that has made it to the iPhone/iPod Touch world. Olive Tree has released its Bible Reader application for the iPhone.

As reported on the Olive Tree blog, "This version has a three tap verse chooser, continuous scrolling, and the books are store locally on your iPhone so that you don't need an internet connection to read them."

There are two versions of Olive Tree's new reader, both available from Apple's App Store: BibleReader (free) and the ESV Study Bundle for BibleReader ($24.99)

Here are some very important notes about this version of Bible Reader:

• Downlad and installation of BibleReader for iPhone and purchase of iPhone-compatible Olive Tree resources can only take place through the Apple iTunes store at this time. iPhone BibleReader and iPhone resources are not presently available through Olive Tree's online store. Go to Apple iTunes to find resources for your iPhone or iPod Touch.
• iTunes sells resources in bundles. To use different books together (looking up a verse in two different Bible translations without exiting the program, for example), books must be purchased in the same bundle. Individual titles cannot be added to or subtracted from a bundle. Olive Tree will offer periodic updates to the bundles sold on iTunes. If we update a bundle you have purchased, you can download the update for free at iTunes.
• BibleReader for iPhone is a completely new program. Items in your Personal Library purchased for other platforms (like BlackBerry or Palm) will not transfer to iPhone. Olive Tree resources for iPhone are only available through Apple iTunes.

That all being said, there are some neat things to look forward to with Olive Tree's new Bible Reader. This is from the list featured on Olive Tree's iPhone page:

• Greek and Hebrew Bible translations, lexicons, reference works, and fonts
• More commentaries, study tools, and Christian eBooks—Olive Tree plans to release over 500 titles for iPhone
• Phrase Search
• Bookmarks
• Auto-Scrolling
• Hyperlinked Table of Contents for eBooks
• Personal Notes
• Support for Images
• Highlighting
• Split-Screen, to view multiple documents at once
• Notes and Cross-References

For more information, visit Olive Tree's iPhone page; to download/purchase, visit the App Store via iTunes or on the iPhone/iPod Touch devices.

Labels: Bible, commentary, eBook, iPhone, iPod Touch, mobiles, mobility, Olivetree, reading, smartphone, software, tech

Not everyone has a smarpthone; many people don't even want them. But it's really cool when companies make resources available for folks without smartphones that are powerful in their own right. Check it out (from a recent post at JKontheRun).

This is a first public alpha of the Mobipocket Reader for Java Phones. This version is developed for all Sony Ericsson Java Phones... If your phone is not a Sony Ericsson, you can try to send a book with the reader Desktop but you can read only the free books.

Learn more and download the alpha version of the Mobipocket Reader 6.0 for Java phones. Be warned. This software might crash or otherwise harm your device. It is not an official release, just a testing one. Use at your own risk.

See, now your RAZR toting friends don't have any reason to go without the Word, some devotional, or all of the above. Its attainable.

Labels: eBook, JavaScript, mobiles, Mobipocket, software