Tech Forum

We are looking at making a stronger move into publishing LDS content for ereaders. A couple of questions have come out of this, such as:

What ereader device do you use and why?

Which LDS content would readers like the most?

When you purchase or look for content, where do you go to find it?

We loved to hear your feedback! Any thoughts or ideas, are welcome.

I have a Kindle and I go to the Amazon bookstore.

Probably not what you meant by eBook, but:

Motorola Droid

Android Market

The standard works is already covered. I'd like to see Church News, Ensign as well as works such as Jesus the Christ.

Why? Because it's always with me

I'm still using a Pocket PC with the YanCEyware reader. Why? Because it's paid for and it still works after almost 7 years! But I'm leaning towards an iPad and I'm really looking forward to taking it to church (and hoping that I don't get dirty looks from people who think electronic devices are a no-no at church). So far I'm satisfied with the wealth of written material available free from lds.org and I like the way that the PDF versions retain the same formatting as the paper books (so that someone can say, "Let's read from page 43 of Gospel Principles").

But I most look forward to having one device with a large screen which can handle everything from church books/manuals to calendars AND allow me to take notes in leadership meetings with a comfortable-enough keyboard. I'd like to think that I'll never need to carry paper to church again.

So, yes... anything that the church publishes on paper would be great in an eBook format (except, I suppose, the Church Handbook of Instructions. Sigh).

My primary device is an iPod Touch 3GS (Soon to be my first iPhone). I use the LDS Scripture app from LDSScipturesApp.com, the Gospel Library from the church, and iSilo.


[The rest of the post was moved HERE.]

I still use the YanCEyWare reader on a Windows Mobile platform for all the reasons previously explained HERE. My options are wide open for another phone/platform later this year. A big part of the platform decision for me will be on the type of reader already available for it and the quantity/quality of LDS content.

I use the Amazon Kindle. I would like to see the scriptures and Church publications such as have already been mentioned. I mainly shop at the Kindle Store on Amazon, as they already have many ebooks published by Deseret Book.

I am still considering jumping into utilizing e-reader devices, however I just wanted to make the comment that I wish the Church would expand their mobile offerings outside of the iPad, iPhone, Apple-centric market. Not everyone is an Apple user. I, for one, don't plan on using Apple anytime in the near future mainly because of my dislike for the hype and cost premium on their devices. So, Kindle/Android/WinMo/Blackberry, etc... would be nice to allow any Church member to utilize the new Gospel Library or other materials without being locked into the Apple ecosystem.

The mobile device space, of which the eReaders such as Kindle, or the smartphones, is changing very rapidly, and so it was likely thought best to start with the iPhone, etc.

That said, I just heard this morning that a new Blackberry device, right now supposedly called 'Blackpad', but which could have a different name when released, is on the way, the same company is to unveil an iPhone 'lookalike' as well,

There are also a host of other devices under development, mainly in the 'slate' category, of which the iPad is the best known so far.

It's more a matter of wait and see what devices fly and which ones die. As a community along with the Church developers, we're going to be hard pressed to keep up with the things that are coming, and decisions on when to develop for what are going to have to be made, priorities set, etc.

JamesAnderson wrote:That said, I just heard this morning that a new Blackberry device, right now supposedly called 'Blackpad', but which could have a different name when released, is on the way, the same company is to unveil an iPhone 'lookalike' as well,

There are also a host of other devices under development, mainly in the 'slate' category, of which the iPad is the best known so far.

I've read where HP has trademarked "PalmPad". I've seen reports that Android-based "pad"s are in in development.