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Simple. This is to be a
foundational distinctive compared to other Bible software, and a
non-negotiable objective for the BerBible application to have as an ongoing priority.
Goal is for BerBible to be easy to learn and use- This goal applies especially for people who aren't necessarily all that 'computer literate' or aren't native English speakers (ESL).
- ‘Bible software for the rest of us!’ Intuitive with minimal learning curve.
- I'm not aware of any other existing Bible freeware with copyrighted modern English Bible(s) (such as ESV and/or NKJV and/or NASB) that I would confidently predict that all or even a majority of the elders/deacons at my church would find easy to learn with a minimal learning-curve (10 minutes or less). I acknowledge that is speculation on my part, and BerBible certainly has room for improvement regarding this issue.
- Bible freeware tends to reflect the preferences of the project developers, who almost invariably are highly technical, may be current or former seminary students, and generally have high expectations regarding scholarly capabilities.
- Typical new-user reaction to some or most Bible software is 'scratch your head' to figure out how to do basics like verse lookup and concordance-like searching.
- Commercial Bible software vendors almost invariably need to offer comprehensive 'scholarly' capabilities to justify the purchase, especially for packages costing over $100 USD. Basic capabilities like verse lookup and searching are not necessarily obvious and intuitive.
- Commerical Bible software with a significant library and scholarly features tends to cost from $50 to $1000's, but the package often ends up as "shelf-ware".
- Something of an aside: my impression is that more and more Bible software vendors are moving towards a Gillette marketing approach of "give away the razor and sell the blades". In this business model, the razor is the software engine and various public domain resources. The blades are Bible modules, copyrighted commentaries, and other resources. I find this a fascinating and very positive development. The potential exists for excellent bargains if there is a good "fit" of what they offer and the requirements of the potential customer.
Very low level of technical proficiency assumed on the part of BerBible end-users:- BerBible should be simple enough to be the very first computer application a person has ever used.
- The "new user tutorial" and the recently implemented "Minimal Layout" are both oriented to people who don't know much more about computers than how to turn them on. For example, an initial section of the tutorial describes in detail how to use the mouse to LMB (left mouse button) click on the BerBible desktop icon to start BerBible.
- For a person who has familiarity and relatively modest proficiency with basic features of email, BerBible should be perceived as relatively simple (especially if they have seen the ‘animated slideshow of basic features’)
- Goal to be as simple to use as the built-in solitaire game that comes with Windows. [[room for improvement here]]
- Typical church member should find BerBible to be one of the easiest computer applications they’ve ever used … if not the easiest.
- Potential end-user may or may not have experience with using web browser to download and install software from the Internet (some end-users may have BerBible installed by someone else, or BerBible was pre-installed on their computer/laptop).
- The assumption that a person can download and install an application from the Internet presupposes a relatively ‘computer savvy’ end-user.
- Assume end-users’ level of proficiency and experience is at a level where the idea of downloading and installing ‘no name’ freeware is perceived as risky and technically intimidating.
- see reply to this "forum topic" regarding perceived risk of freeware (and shareware) http://berbible.org/forums/index.php?topic=45.0
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