December 02, 2008

Bible Software New Releases

Accordance often makes big releases around the time of the SBL meeting and this year was no exception. I was waiting for them to post it on their web page so I could link to it. Greek NT Papyri, and Coptic texts are great additions. Some folks will like the complete BDB Hebrew Lexicon.

Another exciting moment was demo-ing the Greek and Hebrew bibles on Olive Tree's new iPhone bible reader application. I've carried a translation and a tagged GNT on my Palm device for years now. It's so handy to have them everywhere I go. The iPhone version looks absolutely awesome. It flows so incredibly (with a flick!). They don't have the tagged Greek/Hebrew texts yet, but those are coming in '09. Chris Heard tipped me off that if you already own Olive Tree texts in Palm, they'll transfer you to iPhone for free. It's looking like my iPhone transition is now immenent.

I also was looking forward to trying out Logos' new Mac software. I've not yet had a chance since they have absolutely no demo options. I can't remember the last time I encountered a piece of software that didn't have a demo version. Utterly insane. Anyhow, at first it looked like they had it for sale at their booth, but alas it was just still pre-orders for a later ship date (ie. no shrink-wrapped on hand). Their Promo Banner says it all, kinda. So, unfortunately, when I made it to their booth on the last morning to try it out, they had broken down their booth already. Everything was gone, and it was only 10 a.m. So, no luck there.

It was funny that 30 minutes later, someone came over the P.A. chastising any vendor who had already boxed up with something like, "Vendors, the exhibit hall is open until 12 p.m. Please do not break down your booths until after the hall closes." I saw at least a couple other offenders. *Shrug*

6 comments:

Phil Gons said...

Hi, Joe,

We don't have a demo, but we have been doing public beta testing for some time now. It is possible to download several free resources from a variety of sources and use the beta version as a demo. Also, we do have a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you could purchase one of our base packages as a demo and return it for a full refund if it's not for you.

We did actually have the Mac product for sale at both ETS and SBL. And I don't think we ran out. Sorry you weren't able to pick it up before the booth closed. Send me an email at phil@logos.com or give me a call at 800-875-6467 if you're interested in a review copy.

Phil

Joe Weaks said...

Phil, thanks for the info. I am very surprised to hear that you were carrying it in stock at the booth. I was misinformed.

I was aware of the public beta, but since I did not own any module, could do nothing with it. A link to free resources (however inferior) for the purpose of testing would've been helpful--something I would've taken advantage of.
I still lament that you have no demo of the software, and would encourage you to consider such.
I had hoped to have a look at it.

Jesse said...

For what it's worth, I bought Libronix last week and called them today asking for a refund. After reading Mark Driscoll's shining review, I upgraded from an old Windows license I had.
I was pretty disappointed. Lots of potential, but not nearly as feature-rich and complete feeling as Accordance. I'm sure it will get there. The folks at Logos were really friendly and apologetic. I'd be happy to do a screen-share if you want to jump on my computer and check it out. (I kept my old license, so I basically have a very stripped-down version of it installed now).

The Sewing Machine Doc said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Sewing Machine Doc said...

I currently use Accordance 8.4 and find it an awesome tool. I purchased the initial release of Logos for mac and didn't find it nearly as useful as Accordance, but understand it was an early release. I recently upgraded to Logos 4 for mac and recommend users wait on that release. First it does not work on my G5 imac so I am limited to my macintel laptop (time for a new desktop?). Second, after it took 4 hours to download the modules it started indexing and froze the machine. I have been unable to open the program since. It's in early development so I hope Logos will remember us early adopters when they release a more stable or final version. Given what windows users have told me about Logos, I have high hopes that eventually this will be an awesome tool for use in my studies, but it has a long way to go.

Joe Weaks said...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.