RickGross
06-27-2006, 03:52 PM
Periodically customers enthusiastic about BibleWorks suggest that the company market an implementation of BibleWorks on a PDA. The desire to have the Bible versions and search capabilities on a PDA are quite natural for one who makes frequent use of that class of computing devices.
It is certainly feasible to download Bible texts, even complete Bibles, from BibleWorks to a PDA, and frequently such a download will satisfy all requirements. From the menu bar, create an export file by using Tools | Export Database.
The company, however, has decided not to produce a PDA implementation of BibleWorks, for two reasons. First, BibleWorks is a complex product that has grown in capability and in service to the church and Biblical scholarship commensurately with the capabilities of personal computers. PDAs, for all their virtues, are simply nowhere near as capable as personal computers, either in processing power or in their user interfaces. We are convinced a version of BibleWorks limited to a PDA's processing power or interface would quickly prove dissatisfying to those familiar with its desktop capabilities. Furthermore, products of near‑PDA‑size are already being introduced that have (perhaps in concert with a docking station) full desktop capabilities. We foresee such products, which will be capable of running current versions of BibleWorks in their native mode, rapidly taking over much of the market that now belongs to PDAs, making a port of BibleWorks to a PDA of only temporary utility.
Secondly, the PDA market is already served by other Bible software companies. It is not our corporate intent to introduce new competition with those who already serve the PDA market in a way that currently seems to us satisfactory.
We appreciate and are complimented by the kind suggestions and the sincere motivation of those who would like to see more people obtaining access to BibleWorks. We believe, though, that by our keeping our costs and therefore prices low, more and more people will indeed eventually have access to the excellent capabilities BibleWorks has to offer. In this way, these people will have a product that will grow with them as God leads them further into the blessings of sincere and deep study of His incomparable Word.
Last update: ELM/Dec 1, 2006
It is certainly feasible to download Bible texts, even complete Bibles, from BibleWorks to a PDA, and frequently such a download will satisfy all requirements. From the menu bar, create an export file by using Tools | Export Database.
The company, however, has decided not to produce a PDA implementation of BibleWorks, for two reasons. First, BibleWorks is a complex product that has grown in capability and in service to the church and Biblical scholarship commensurately with the capabilities of personal computers. PDAs, for all their virtues, are simply nowhere near as capable as personal computers, either in processing power or in their user interfaces. We are convinced a version of BibleWorks limited to a PDA's processing power or interface would quickly prove dissatisfying to those familiar with its desktop capabilities. Furthermore, products of near‑PDA‑size are already being introduced that have (perhaps in concert with a docking station) full desktop capabilities. We foresee such products, which will be capable of running current versions of BibleWorks in their native mode, rapidly taking over much of the market that now belongs to PDAs, making a port of BibleWorks to a PDA of only temporary utility.
Secondly, the PDA market is already served by other Bible software companies. It is not our corporate intent to introduce new competition with those who already serve the PDA market in a way that currently seems to us satisfactory.
We appreciate and are complimented by the kind suggestions and the sincere motivation of those who would like to see more people obtaining access to BibleWorks. We believe, though, that by our keeping our costs and therefore prices low, more and more people will indeed eventually have access to the excellent capabilities BibleWorks has to offer. In this way, these people will have a product that will grow with them as God leads them further into the blessings of sincere and deep study of His incomparable Word.
Last update: ELM/Dec 1, 2006