I was called to be a pastor in 1984. At that time, there were early computers that could run Bible software. This software, like the computers, were text based; no graphics user interface yet. Parson’s software offering was QuickVerse. A couple other companies supplied the text of Bibles on 5 1/4” floppies. So I bought books, many, many books. I bought hundreds of study books, commentaries, Bible versions and other such tomes to allow me to study and grow as a future pastor. When I separated from the Air Force in 1985, dozens of boxes of books were shipped home.
Logos Bible Software came into being in 1992 on Windows computers. I found out about it and began to purchase electronic books that were shipped on 3.5” floppies. Their software was really nothing more than the text of Bible and commentaries that could be searched. Logos expanded their offerings when in 2001 they merged with Libronix. This added speed and expandability and allowed Logos to grow their library of offerings beyond any other company. Today they are part of Faithlife Corporation, an ebook company with hundreds of thousands of titles.
Accordance Bible software was first released on the Mac. It was the first complete Bible study package that was available on the Mac. It was released in 1994. Like Logos, the early versions of Accordance consisted of searchable Bible texts.
Olive Tree Bible software was the first Bible available on the Palm OS. It was released in 1998 as a way to read and search Bible texts. Back in 1998, I had a Palm PDA and a windows machine, so I used Logos on the desktop computer and Olive Tree on the handheld palm device.
I became a pastor in March of 2005 with Logos Bible software on a Windows desktop and laptop and Olive tree on my Palm V. In 2009 I bought my first iPhone, the 3Gs and put Logos Bible software on it along with Olive Tree’s new IOS app. The hundreds of books I had collected while in the Military and since were sold to pay for my Logos Bible software library.
Today I have Logos Bible software and Accordance Bible Software on my iMac, and Logos, Accordance and Olive Tree on my iDevices. Desktop and laptop software has become an amazing tool for searching, comparing, reading and note taking. I do all my sermon preparation using Logos for the Mac. Sadly, mobile software is still nothing more than reading and searching text. With the power of modern phone and tablets, I am dismayed that companies like Logos and Accordance are not putting more of their desktop power in the mobile applications. These companies need to wake up to the power of mobile devices.
Apple wants to make their iPad Pro line a laptop replacement. For that to happen, companies like Accordance and Logos need to put their desktop apps on the iPad. I suppose that the money for these companies is in desktop applications in offices where most sermons would be written. However, it would be great to work on a sermon on my iMac and continue the work on my iPad or iPhone in a coffee shop and finish it up at home on a MacBook. That would be the ideal and I hope that Bible software companies rise to the occasion soon.
Logos Bible Software came into being in 1992 on Windows computers. I found out about it and began to purchase electronic books that were shipped on 3.5” floppies. Their software was really nothing more than the text of Bible and commentaries that could be searched. Logos expanded their offerings when in 2001 they merged with Libronix. This added speed and expandability and allowed Logos to grow their library of offerings beyond any other company. Today they are part of Faithlife Corporation, an ebook company with hundreds of thousands of titles.
Accordance Bible software was first released on the Mac. It was the first complete Bible study package that was available on the Mac. It was released in 1994. Like Logos, the early versions of Accordance consisted of searchable Bible texts.
Olive Tree Bible software was the first Bible available on the Palm OS. It was released in 1998 as a way to read and search Bible texts. Back in 1998, I had a Palm PDA and a windows machine, so I used Logos on the desktop computer and Olive Tree on the handheld palm device.
I became a pastor in March of 2005 with Logos Bible software on a Windows desktop and laptop and Olive tree on my Palm V. In 2009 I bought my first iPhone, the 3Gs and put Logos Bible software on it along with Olive Tree’s new IOS app. The hundreds of books I had collected while in the Military and since were sold to pay for my Logos Bible software library.
Today I have Logos Bible software and Accordance Bible Software on my iMac, and Logos, Accordance and Olive Tree on my iDevices. Desktop and laptop software has become an amazing tool for searching, comparing, reading and note taking. I do all my sermon preparation using Logos for the Mac. Sadly, mobile software is still nothing more than reading and searching text. With the power of modern phone and tablets, I am dismayed that companies like Logos and Accordance are not putting more of their desktop power in the mobile applications. These companies need to wake up to the power of mobile devices.
Apple wants to make their iPad Pro line a laptop replacement. For that to happen, companies like Accordance and Logos need to put their desktop apps on the iPad. I suppose that the money for these companies is in desktop applications in offices where most sermons would be written. However, it would be great to work on a sermon on my iMac and continue the work on my iPad or iPhone in a coffee shop and finish it up at home on a MacBook. That would be the ideal and I hope that Bible software companies rise to the occasion soon.
Comments
Post a Comment