Please note the date on this post. Read our more recent posts on the iPhone for more up-to-date information.
If you take a look at the comments you’ll see that our two posts about the iPhone have generated a lot of feedback. This has been one of the most (if not the most) popular topics on the blog.
It’s been quite an interesting phenomena in the industry. Unlike other new product announcements, there were few developers (beyond the big contributors like Google) who were brought into the inner circle and given access to the iPhone in advance. Very little was known about it until recently when developers could actually hold one in their hands.
As it turns out there is no ability to install third-party applications — not even Widgets. The only kind of application you can put on the iPhone is one that is accessible through the Web. Existing Web applications probably work OK on the iPhone, but they’re not optimized for the way its unique (i.e. “quirky”, “smart”, or “retarded” — depending on your perspective) user interface works. A good iPhone app needs to be carefully designed to work around its weak points and take advantage of its strong points.
I suppose if we were to do Bible software for the iPhone we could host it on a site, say iPocketBible.com and people could browse to it from their phone or actually from any desktop, PDA, or phone with an adequate Web browser. iPocketBible.com would have to offer features that you can’t find on existing Web-based Bible sites. And since those sites aren’t optimized for iPhone, iPocketBible.com would be much easier to use.
We’d also have the advantage of content that isn’t available at other Web-based sites. Our licenses with Christian publishers give us the ability to publish more than the public domain “classic” Bibles and reference books you find elsewhere. Sure, there are a few modern Bibles available at those sites, but iPocketBible.com would be able to give you access to commentaries and reference materials that aren’t available elsewhere.
Well as I’ve said many times before, we can’t talk about products that may or may not be under development. If we’re working on it, we’ll neither confirm it nor deny it. If we’re not working on it we’ll neither deny it nor confirm it. But we really appreciate all the interest you’ve shown and the comments you’ve posted regarding the iPhone.
The iPhone will continue to generate interest – it is the fulfillment of decades of prediction…
Hope your church has great ATT&T coverage…
Actually, it has WiFi and the iPhone will automatically detect and use it.
So, if you were working on something like that, would it be a subscription based service (ie. monthly/annual plans) with access to everything or would it be more along the lines of your current model (ie. I buy what I want/need and it is mine to use in perpetuity). If you were working on it, that is.
If said product did exist, that would be absolutely astounding. Laridian definitely has the content, and it would be super great if my investment in that content could be carried across to iPocketPhone. The thing with these services is that they involve monthly hosting costs. I’m not big on subscriptions, but I would be willing to pay a nominal monthly fee to access the reader, if my existing content came across free and additional content was a one-time fee. There are certainly interesting things you could do with a business model. Maybe some people rather have all the content all the time, and pay a premium fee for that. Personally, I’d rather not have ads, especially with so little screen real-estate.
It sounds like you guys have some good ideas. It’s true that it could work equally well on a Windows Mobile phone or Palm Treo with a few modifications. Sounds like it could be a whole new direction.
Besides being optimized for the small screen, I haven’t seen Bible web sites where you maintain an account and can keep your highlights and notes on the server to view later. No more syncing! And buying new content right from your phone. Despite some downsides, it sounds like it could be pretty awesome.
Kevin:
It’s difficult to pay royalties to copyright owners on a subscription model. There could be a subscription fee for access but a one-time fee for each piece of content you wanted to access. In other words, it wouldn’t be unlike MyBible or PocketBible except access to the program itself would be by subscription.
That would be one way to do it, anyway.
Nathan:
That’s quite a service you’ve described there! Sounds pretty cool.
It would be delightful if the reader was a one time fee as well, but at the same time I wouldn’t want to service to get canned for lack of funding to keep the servers going. Plus, being a non-free service would keep it from becoming over-populated, keeping things running “crisp.”
Thanks Craig… what can I say? I think this would be a pretty awesome project to work on, if not for prior commitments.
If you want to get fancy, think del.icio.us for bookmarks/highlighting. I often can’t remember the exact words of a verse, but have a general sense of the concept. What if I had tagged it before and could search that way? What if tags from the rest of the community were searchable?
I’m not sure if the small screen can handle collaborative bible study, but the point is there is an awful lot of possibility. And the great thing about web is the base model can be upgraded seamlessly with new features.
Indeed, the most difficult thing is determining what to leave out. Both for the sake of schedule, and a clean user interface. That exercise is left to the reader.
Perhaps the PocketBible “application” can be an html file that is locally saved on the iphone and browsed even while offline.
Hashim:
HTML files cannot be saved to the phone. There’s no way to get them there.
Intersting ideas that’s for sure.
Making the MyBible/PocketBible programs as client applications for an online service would be a way around the inability to save aspects of the web service on a device. For those devices that cannot take the client, then keeping the profiling/subscription model would work as well. Ideally, this would be something that takes the pocket metaphor of Laridian’s offereing and pushes that a lot further. Considering that they have the content, the only real questions to be answered on their ends is if the amount of time to develop and support such a complex application would be worth it.
Thanks for keeping the discussion open Laridian.
I attended WWDC 07 and the Web 2.0 announcement was met with a thud as far as my CIO and I go. We develop systems for logistics on Windows and are in the process of switching partially to OS X. We have done a good deal of Pocket PC/Windows Mobile/whatyoumightcallit and are keen to see what is available in the OS X world. Why they would not open the iPhone is a mystery to us although we both felt it was an attempt to keep v1 capabilities quiet which everyone knows is the of the utmost importance to Apple. I have no doubt the iPhone will open up. As for me, as swanky as the hardware is, I will not buy it if it can’t run my Bible software and GPS software. Everything else I can find another way to do but those two are critical.
Having had a WinCE device and several Palm devices which all used Laridian software for my bible-browsing needs, I’d definitely be willing to pay for iPocketBible.Com. eBible and BibleGateway are good, but neither are iPhone optimized, nor do they allow the number of versions that Laridian does.
I would definitely buy a subcription to ipocketbible if it is developed but still hold out hope that the platform will open and a local device copy can be installed. for me too having, preferably offline, bible software is a must.
Gentlemen – having owned an iPhone now for all of 8 days, rest assured that the multi-touch interaction and user interface are very well suited for a reader application – even web based.
I am very interested in a Laridian application, and see no reason that in principal, this could be implemented as a web-based application. Without question, newer versions of iPhone will be 3G, so it will become even less of a concern. Certainly, I would prefer a true application should Apple ever truly open it up for developers.
Again, if you haven’t had a chance to interact with an iPhone and its svelte interface for scrolling, zooming, etc. – take time to do so. The screen resolution and rendering is fantastic, and it would (will?) be a great platform for Laridian. Note that over 1M units have already purportedly been sold!
Wesley,
We do have a couple iPhones here so we know what they can do. Thanks for your comments.
Craig
Count me in too! If it is developed, I would definitely buy a subscription to ipocketbible. I would prefer if the iphone platform will open and a local device copy can be installed. However, having bible software is a must and MyBible has been a GREAT program!
I can just imaging what a GREAT job Laridian could do with the content and talent you have, if you were considering something like ipocketbible.com, that is!
Thank you if you are considering developing for the iPhone! I love my iPhone and wish I could use DailyReader on it everyday. I didn’t use much of the other features of PocketBible, but now that it will have an easier to use interface, I will use it more.
As a long time Pocket Bible and current iPhone user, I would love to see the ipocketbible.com become a reality. Count me in!
I was working on my own version of a web-based Bible reader for the iPhone, but I ran into the whole copyright hurdle. I have a development version working OK with KJV, but what I really want is NASB. Buying something from Laridian is the next best thing… I love the stuff I bought for my Pocket PC.