As many of you have already seen in a recent newsletter, PocketBible software will be coming soon to your Windows desktop. The newsletter was somewhat vague about features so I thought I’d take a few minutes to provide some details.
Briefly, PocketBible for Windows is the desktop version of our PocketBible software. It uses the same LBK file format as our PocketBible program for Pocket PC, but adds a tiled user interface with windows for your Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, devotionals, and other books. You can hover your mouse cursor over any Bible reference to instantly see the text of that verse. And of course you can search, annotate, highlight, and bookmark the text just like on your PDA.
We have a couple of goals with PocketBible for Windows. First, we wanted it to be “home base” for your mobile Bible software. We wanted to eliminate the need to separately back up your notes, highlights, and bookmarks by providing a way that these could be automatically copied to your desktop PC. Once there, PocketBible for Windows lets you view, edit, and create new notes, highlights, and bookmarks which are automatically re-synchronized with your mobile device.
To this end, the initial release of PocketBible for Windows will be followed almost immediately by an update to PocketBible for Pocket PC that will support synchronization of user-entered data with the desktop version of PocketBible. Changes made on either platform will be intelligently combined so that you always have the latest version of your notes, etc. on both platforms.
Synchronization for iPocketBible for iPhone is being designed in from the start so it should be available shortly. So you can take notes on your iPhone in church then come home and sync your PC to the iPocketBible server and have access to those notes at home. (Then drop your Pocket PC in its cradle and update its database as well!)
Synchronization for MyBible will require significantly more work due to a combination of the way the Palm OS works and the features of the MyBible program. Look for an update later this year.
Our second goal for PocketBible for Windows was to create a great Bible program in the spirit of the original versions of QuickVerse we all worked on back at Parsons Technology. Many of you have written to me over the years to say that QuickVerse 4.0 was “as good as it gets”. We agree. Up until we started working on our own desktop Bible software most of us here used QV4 for our Bible study and lesson preparation needs.
It’s hard to identify what made QuickVerse 4.0 so great, but near the top of the list has to be speed and ease of use. What it did, it did quickly and it did well.
So in the spirit of QuickVerse 4.0 we’ve tried to make PocketBible for Windows as easy to use as possible. For example, we implemented a feature we think is unique among Bible software. With a Bible window active, you just type a reference and the program takes you there. So type “John 3:16″ and press the Enter key and you’re at John 3:16. You don’t have to type it in a special box, or click on a “Submit” button or anything. Just type.
Want to grab a passage for a sermon or lesson? Just type “copy psalm 1″ to copy the text of Psalm 1 to the clipboard. Then switch to your Word processor and hit Ctrl+V to paste it into your document.
Of course you can do all this with traditional menus and dialog boxes, but we just cut out all the intermediate steps. In fact, you don’t even have to type out “copy” — just type the letter “c” and PocketBible will know what you mean.
There are a whole bunch of these commands. You can set bookmarks, launch a search, add a note, or highlight a verse just by using the keyboard.
And lest you’re wondering what all this has to do with mobile computing — which is, after all, Laridian’s foundation — well just try using this instant command feature with a tablet PC and handwriting recognition software. Just write “John 3:16″ on your tablet and your software goes there. It couldn’t be easier.
And if that’s not mobile enough, you can copy PocketBible to a USB memory stick and take it with you. Now this sounds like no big deal, but try doing that with any of the other Bible software out there. They all depend on the system registry being set up, and they all save their data files to your hard drive. PocketBible gives you the option of saving your personal notes, highlights, and bookmarks to the memory stick and requires no system registry entries. You can literally walk up to any Windows computer with a USB port, insert your USB memory stick, and your complete, personal Bible library is instantly available to you, right where you left off last time you used it, even if it wasn’t on the same computer.
Then, take your memory stick home, insert it in your computer, sync to the iPocketBible server and now your notes are on your iPhone!
I know you’re probably wondering what this is going to cost. Final pricing hasn’t been determined, but I can tell you this: Most of the books you already own for PocketBible or MyBible will be accessible without purchasing another copy. You’ll just purchase the PocketBible for Windows program itself, then download the desktop versions of the PocketBible books already in your download account (technically they’re already there — you just can’t see them because you don’t own the PocketBible for Windows program yet).
(A small number of books may not be available for use on your desktop computer due to licensing restrictions. We’re working on eliminating these but can’t make any promises at this point.)
In closing, while a lot of the code in PocketBible for Windows is shared between our Palm and Pocket PC apps and was written by Jeff Wheeler and me, the interface and overall operation of the code, including our unique synchronization software, is the brain-child of Scott Gray, one of our senior developers. Scott, Jeff and I worked together at Parsons Technology 10+ years ago. Scott created the QuickVerse Multimedia Life Application Bible, which was one of the finest products Parsons ever produced. Unfortunately it got caught up in the seemingly endless series of purchases and sales of the company in 1997 and 1998, so you probably never heard of it. Scott has put in (and continues to put in) untold hours on PocketBible for Windows. We hope you’ll enjoy the fruit of his labor.
So keep your eyes on your inbox for that new product announcement!
I can’t tell you how much of a help this will be to a preacher on the move. From coffee shop to home to office, even on a retreat using another computer I will be able to have my Bible and all my notes right there on my usb drive. I thought QuickVerse was the best Bible program ever produced while Parsons had it. I wondered were the great programmers of that software went. Parsons also had the greatest tax program. Thanks for all the work and for the reasonably priced Bible programs.
I’m very pleased about this move to the desktop. This will allow me to utilize my notes is a much easier manner. While I read on my PDA and make short notes, the bulk of my study and preparation will always be on my desktop/laptop system. So thanks for this.
For those of us who have purchased the Book Builder program, will we still be able to use this for compiling books for the desktop as well as for our PDAs?
BookBuilder for PocketBible will build books that are compatible with PocketBible for Windows. It uses exactly the same files. Good question! Thanks for asking.
This is fantastic. I have been waiting for you to do a Desktop version for years.
Looks like I can finally get rid of e-Sword. Looking at your screen layout, you are the only company that may have a better front end.
God Bless, and keep up the great work!
- Richard.
Hi Craig,
I never realised you were one of the originals developing Quickverse. I used to use it all the time, before we got lost in the never-never of updates & Windows upgrades. I have always been interested in software bibles. In fact, back in the CPM days, I had a Kaypro ‘portable’. About 3o” deep, 18″ wide & 10″ high, & I had the “Word Processor”, which I bought from the States, written by two guys from Texas, I think. It was the first bible on 5 & 1/4″ disks…about 20 of them. I was so stoked to have the Word of God on a computer.So Pocket Bible has come a long way. I am so thrilled with the new desk top idea & pray that the Lord will bless you & the crew in your work.
Regards,
Richard Gliddon
Australia.
Richard,
I think you’re the second person I’ve talked to in 20 years of doing this who owned a copy of The Word Processor from Bible Research Systems. They’ve been plugging away at this business for a long time but you just never meet anyone who owns their product.
I wrote the original QuickVerse program from home and brought it to Parsons Technology in 1988. In 1989 I hired Jeff Wheeler and he did most of the programming on QuickVerse 2-4. Jeff, Jim VanDuzer, and I started Laridian in 1998.
Wow, i can’t wait to get to use this software. I’ve been using the Pocket PC version for a long time now and find it so helpful. To be able to use my software on my desktop PC will save me from using Pocket PC Controller and being limited by its restraints.
BRING IT ON
Congratulations for such a move. This is a very important and usefull addition for the Laridian user comunity.
Blessings
Even though I have two comprehensive desktop Bible programs, PocketBible is my number one Bible study tool. My heart leaped when I got the e-mail that I will be able to have all this on my desktop. I’ve been pasting my PocketBible notes into my “other” desktop Bible software. Being able to sync them will save so much time. I hope the desktop version will be easier to use than my current desktop software. By the sound of the description, it will. I’ll be eagerly checking my e-mail for the release date.
that’s great. inform me when the product is available by email.
Yes! Being able to sync PocketBible to its PC equivalent is the next best logical move. Prior to this, I’ve been considering to buy a couple more books from Laridian, but have held back simply because I do much of my Bible reading/study on my laptop using another Bible software. This news certainly helped me made up my mind. You can definitely expect much increase in sales. Can we expect it by Christmas?
The day that PocketBible for Windows ships will be Christmas, whenever it falls on the calendar.
You’ll see it long before December 25.
Thank God for the desktop version. Looks great.
Thank God for the iphone – Maybe now that people see what a real smartphone should look like, maybe other smartphones will go back to the original Pocket PC formate.
Hi Craig,
This sounds great. I’ve been using QuickVerse for decades (it seems) and still have it running on my laptop. Is there anywhere that we will be able to import our STEP books? I have a bunch from the QV days. Since STEP is/was a standard (that you defined, if I recall) I would think it is open for you to get access to. Maybe not with your first version, but it would be nice to see a STEP converter or something.
Thanks a lot.
I’m reminded of the scene in Field of Dreams where Ray goes to Boston to find Terrance Mann. When Mann hears Ray’s story he exclaims, “You’re from the past!” and chases him out with a bug sprayer.
It’s unlikely we’ll do a STEP converter. The problem is that STEP is based on RTF and PocketBible is based on HTML. We’d have to add RTF support if only to convert (not necessarily display) STEP books. We’ve actually looked at building a program that turns STEP books back into Word documents but it’s very difficult to do after they’ve been converted to the binary format you get them in.
So the way to look at it is this: You’ve gotten a good ten years’ use out of those books. They’re starting to get frayed and worn and it’s time to invest in another copy.
If you want to encourage someone to support STEP, you might want to talk to Findex (the current owners of QuickVerse). I’m sure the programmers they use in Russia for QV development could whip up a STEP reader for them.
Craig,
Warm Greetings!
I was really excited to hear that you were making the PocketBible available on the PC. But the main reason that I purchased it on my Pocket PC because of the word-level highlighting and the links in the notes. Those that I study with have likewise been extremely excited about these very things. We all said “Finally someone has done this combination of things on a Pocket PC!!!” We have been using the word-level highlighting on our PC software for years. And would not live without it even if the notes transferred – which is something else that we have wanted for years. It is hard to see the almost “perfect” (if not PERFECT) program be reduced to something that we would not buy. In this day and age, I am sure that many others have found it indispensable ON THE PC too — i.e. not 2 steps down without it but 100 steps down.
Is there any way to standardize on the word-highlighting and have the verse-highlighting be the exception. It seems like with the power of the PC it could detect and adjust for the difference (depending on what is synced with it) OR maybe not even transfer the highlighting to and from a verse-highlighting device anyway. After all, how useful is verse-level highlighting anyway?
Steve
We’ve been re-thinking our position on this issue. I think it would be correct to say at this point we will make verse-level highlights the default behavior (to facilitate synchronizing between all platforms) but will continue to support word-level highlighting. You might even see us synchronize word highlights between platforms that support that feature.
The way this has all worked out is that both the Pocket PC and Windows desktop programs support BOTH word and verse highlights. You can do word highlighting on either platform and for now they won’t synchronize. But if you get an iPhone your verse highlights will synchronize without hurting your word highlights.
I think you’ll just have to be patient with us on this one.
Let me just add this: When we first invented this synchronization technology we went to several Bible software vendors with the idea of sync’ing their user-created data with our product in order to give them a mobile solution for their customers without them having to re-invent the wheel. We got positive responses from more than one, but as we tried to work out the details we realized that there were huge differences that just couldn’t be overcome.
For example, one program used “style sheets” that were user configurable, then tagged their notes using those styles. In order to sync with that product we’d have to convert the styles to HTML character styles. But that would allow the user to manually change the style of, say, a link to a Bible verse in one case but not in other links to Bible verses. When we sync’ed back to the desktop it would be impossible to know what was really intended — do they want to change the styles on all links or just this one? And how do we handle that since the desktop program doesn’t support it?
So we learned that while our technology is uber-cool, the idea of cross-vendor synchronization is just too hard to implement. Interestingly, some of the same arguments apply to simple cross-platform synchronization. So for example, the iPhone can’t handle word highlights. Even if you tried to convert word-level highlights to verse-level highlights for display on the iPhone, then you have to figure out what it means when someone changes the color of the highlight on a verse or deletes the highlight on the verse. Did they intend to change or delete all highlights in that verse or just the highlights that were that color?
So this is why I say you may need to be patient. We need to figure out a way to do this very complex thing in a way that is meaningful and appropriate regardless of platform. I’m thinking now that since we’ve completely disconnected word- and verse-highlights we should be able to support word highlights where possible and verse highlights where it’s not possible.
In the meantime we have plenty of other work to do. So to summarize, we’ve heard your concerns and feel your pain. We’re on your side and are moving in the right direction. We just can’t commit to what the end result will be yet. I can say that the desktop program will default to verse-level highlighting and that we’ll provide a way to convert word highlights to verse highlights on the Pocket PC if you want to keep them in sync.
Steve Palmgren,
Thanks for putting in your two cents concerning the word/verse highlighting issue. I agree with you completely. Craig needs to hear from many others like us who find this feature valuable. Currently as it stands, we’ll get the word highlighting but it won’t sync. I’m thankful for the continual ability to word highlight, but I don’t quite understand not having the ability to sync those word highlights. I also agree with you concerning the usefulness of verse highlighting–what use is it? Maybe someone can shed light on the benefits of only verse highlighting. Even with word highlighting you have the ability to highlight the entire verse.
No Craig doesn’t need to hear from others on the word highlight issue.
We’re moving in the direction you want us to go. We’ve been able to work around many of the word-highlighting issues I mentioned in my earlier comment.
So just be patient and wait for us to have time to implement this. In the meantime everything else will be synchronized between the desktop and Pocket PC. (Alternately you can merely copy the database from one device to the other, as the format is identical on both platforms.)
As far as the usefulness of verse highlights, ask the Rainbow Study Bible people. For years they’ve been publishing an entire highlighted Bible using verse-level highlights.
(EDIT: I stand corrected. The Rainbow Study Bible doesn’t always color the whole verse in the same color. Back when we published the RSB for QuickVerse when we were at Parsons Technology they provided us a version that used only full-verse highlighting. That may have been a special edition or it may have been what it looked like at the time.)
Craig, I’m a full-time minister and a seminary student. I love PocketBible, and I’m totally stoked about the desktop release! Now there’s only one thing PocketBible’s still missing — a Hebrew/Greek text. I know there might not be a huge market for it, but it would be invaluable for a lot of language students and pastors. There are several free Biblical Hebrew and Greek fonts available (see teknia.com) so I’m sure it can be done, and I would be glad to help in any way I can. Thanks!