Trailblazin Ministries Blog

Tech Stuff

Content is King

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Monday, 17 December 2007
Filed under: Ministry, Software Reviews, Tech Stuff

In the world of the Internet, it's common knowledge that content is king. If all a website has is a flashy design, but no substance, then there is nothing that is going to keep you going back to that website. Conversely, a website can not have the greatest design in the world, but if it has worthy content, then it is one that becomes frequently visited and popular. I believe this is a concept that translates into other fields as well, for example Bible study software. In this entry, I want to take a look at the concept of "content is king" in the world of Bible study software.

As most already know, I'm currently a WORDsearch employee (I don't know why I feel obligated to say that, but it's a worthy disclaimer for these types of posts). But even before I became an employee of theirs, I was first a user of their software, when I originally bought a copy of WORDsearch 5 back in the spring/summer of 2000. I then got an upgrade to version 7 (thanks to the company looking favorably upon my review). When I bought the application, I didn't buy one of their cheaper packages, but I ended up buying one that normally retails for about $300, so it came with a pretty hefty library of information, including Bibles, dictionaries, commentaries, Christian literature, and so on. Since the purchase, I have made great use of the software and it has been very beneficial to my spiritual growth and aiding in the spiritual growth of others, as I have an entire theological library at my fingertips.

Now, if you look at the other software packages I reviewed, I didn't use those very long after reviewing them. Yes, they are great applications in their own right, but what kept me from using them was the fact that they had inferior libraries. My WORDsearch library was much more extensive, therefore it was always my first choice in Bible study, especially when you throw in the fact that it had my preferred Bible translations, while the others only had public domain versions or others that were very easily licensed. And now that I'm a WORDsearch employee, I have access to the entire library of works that is offered through the company, which has caused my library to contain well over 3GB worth of data (I checked this weekend).

As you also know, I just got a copy of Logos and their Scholar's Library package. That package contains over 330 Bibles and reference works that retail for well over $6,000 in print form. A hefty package indeed, and I could very easily see how Logos could become my primary tool for study (as a lot of what I do is word study and working with the original texts these days), but as I've started working with it, I've noticed that WORDsearch has gotten a lot more use in my daily study of Scripture. I started to wonder why, when a lot of what I was doing was word study (and some use of commentaries), so I gave myself some time to think about it. The answer? Content is king!

Just like with the other software applications, I didn't use them because they didn't have the same number of works as my WORDsearch library, and the case is the same here (more or less thanks to my now being an employee). I am inclined to use WORDsearch a lot more simply because of the size of the library and the titles that are available to me in the software that aren't available in the others. Now, it's worth noting that if I weren't an employee of WORDsearch my libraries in WS and Logos would roughly be of the same size (minus Logos' extensive word study works that are included). There's just no way around it, I'm intrinsically inclined to use the program that has the works that I use. So, it's become that I use WORDsearch for my everyday use, and Logos when I need to do in-depth work with the original languages (or @ church where Logos is the preferred software).

But that led me to think even more, and it's something my friend Antoine and I have discussed a bit of late. It'd be great if I could use my WORDsearch library in Logos and vice versa. For me, considering all the works I have in WS, there is no logical reason why I should have to go and purchase those same works in Logos just so that I can use it in their software. For example, I love John MacArthur's New Testament Commentary series, and I have pretty much the entire set in WS, but none in Logos; I would love to use it in Logos, but why buy it for that application when I already have it in digital format elsewhere. The key point here is that I already have it in digital format; it's not like I'm trying to go from print to electronic, but from electronic to electronic on the same computer, just in different applications. It would be great if I could get the book from one company and then use it in the other's software. It's for that reason alone that WORDsearch will remain my primary application for daily use. Again, content is king.

Now, I won't get into the debate here on the schematics of that because I've seen why things are the way they are concerning this. But I will explain a bit as to why it is the way it is. First, the software application itself doesn't cost that much for the customer to purchase (i.e. you can buy WORDsearch 8 for as little as $40-50 for the application and a nice size library for someone just getting into studying the Bible). The selling of software isn't where these companies make their money; their primary source of revenue is in selling the books that are used within the program (i.e. all the Bibles, commentaries, and so on). If they weren't selling books, then they wouldn't be making much money or remain in business very long (and I wouldn't have a job LOL). But there's also the format that the books are put into, as each company formats their books in their own proprietary format, which keeps the other companies from using their works. That's the short of it, but that's why things are the way they are.

In summary, it'd take a lot for something like that to ever happen, but it does drive home the point that this is what keeps the companies competing and in business, even if it is to the detriment of the user @ times who is forced into buying a work several times over to use it in a different application. So, for anyone reading this who has yet to buy Bible study software or is thinking about it, do your homework first and find the one that's going to work best for you, not just in the short term but in the longterm as well. This kind of software is definitely an investment and it's going to cost a lot of money to make the switch down the road, especially if you have a large library. As for me, I'm content with WORDsearch and its ease of use, and I have no problem with it being my everyday application, and using Logos for church and my original language studies (which I will be doing a lot more of come 2008 when I start taking a Greek class at church). I just consider myself blessed to be someone who is able to have such a wealth of knowledge available to me, regardless of the format its in.