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When a book is not available in Accordance? A bit off-topic …


Julia Falling

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Like many of you, I would love to have more books in Accordance, but, being a reasonable person, I know there are books well worth reading that will never come to Accordance.

 

I have been reading on my iPad since the first day I got it, and on the iPhone before that.  The iPhone is kinda small.  The iPad is kinda heavy.  And both need to be charged daily.  If used a lot, either device might not last the day.

 

That said, here are my questions.  How many of you own a Kindle as well as an iPad?  How good has the Kindle been when you encounter Greek & Hebrew fonts?  Is the battery life as good as Amazon claims?  Does it do well with text-to-speech?  (And what do I need besides the Kindle itself for listening?)

 

If you have one, would you buy again?  Which model?  I do want a lit screen.  I'm thinking Paperwhite.  I'll be sticking to my iPad & Mac for Accordance – can't be beat!

 

Thanks

 

 

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Hi Julie

 

I have a Kindle and use it regularly although not necessarily daily. I have a paperwhite bought about two years ago. Prior to that I had a version that was not as sophisticated as the paperwhite. I would definitely buy again. The battery life is really good. I charge it pretty infrequently, but I am not using it all day. I would say if I used it a couple of hours a day with having the lighting on its lowest setting it would easily last a couple of weeks and probably longer. The way I use it makes it difficult to know exactly. However when I take it on holiday I will charge it up beforehand and not have to charge it again during the holiday. Battery life is much much better than the iPad which is not unexpected given the type of screen and the way it is used.

 

The screen makes it very easy to read in the sun which is another advantage if you happen to be reading outside.

 

Obviously if you are reading books which have bible references it does not have the hyperlinks etc. so more like reading a book in that respect. You can make notes on it against a text if you want to but generally I do not do that. I use it for highlighting text that I can then copy to my computer and bring in as quotes to Accordance to put in notes or user tools. I find that really useful (although it only allows the copying of up to 10% of a book altogether. So making extensive highlights can lead to them eventually not be copied to its highlight list. It still highlights the text but does not copy it to its notes file.)

 

I have in the past got many cheap/free books for it so that is an advantage.

 

I do not use it for text to speech so cannot comment on that. I have a few books that have Greek words. Seem OK to me but generally I'm not using the Kindle for Greek. I do have one of the EGGNT books (James) - think it was free. Just had a look. Seems to work well enough but I am not a Greek font geek so I tend to just accept it as it is.

 

I have an iPad as well which I use for Accordance. I think from a purely reading perspective the Kindle wins hands down. It is easier on the eyes and you can set the brightness such that it can work really well at night without being too bright. It is nearer to reading a book especially if you have a cover. Find it much easer to read lying down than a book because you can hold it in one hand and 'turn' the page with a touch of the thumb. Great for holiday when on the beach!

 

Hope that helps. Any other questions just ask.

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Hi Julie,

 

I have and use a Kindle Paperwhite.  I absolutely love it.  In general, I prefer to read on a Kindle to any other device, or even paper.  The Kindle is so light, with backlighting can be read in the dark, allows me to keep multiple books with me for reading, works great in bright sunlight, allows me to highlight portions and access them later from my computer, etc.  Because of this, I almost always choose to buy books for my Kindle.

 

There are basically three exceptions I have found to this rule:

 

1.  If the book is really something for Bible study, such as a commentary or theology text that has a LOT of Bible reference, I would prefer to have it in Accordance.  (Note, this is not most Christian or even theology books.  The key is that it has to have a LOT of Bible references to make reading in Accordance preferable to me.)

 

2. Poetry - I find reading poetry better on paper than any electronic device.  Maybe this will change over time, but for now, I think the experience of reading poetry on paper is superior.

 

3.  Books with a lot of diagrams and pictures.  They are simply harder to see on a Kindle or even to copy if I need to for some reason.  Once again, most books have illustrations, maps, diagrams, and such, but it only becomes an issue if there are a lot fo them and they are more detailed and really important to the text.

 

That is my 2 cents worth.  Hope it helps.

 

 

In Christ,

 

 

Bret

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Just a reminder that using Accordance with the kindle app is relatively easy. Although the book I have open is not displaying scripture and my Accordance actually has a book not Bible open but you get the picture and you can just swipe over from the side to have instant access to Accordance.

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I get a fair amount of Kindle titles if I can’t get something for Accordance. I don’t know if the situation has improved, but in the past Hebrew was often represented by a graphic image, which was neither searchable nor changed in size when I changed the font size.  

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Very helpful. I’m inclined to take the plunge.

Steve, we have several of the EGGNT volumes for Kindle. They display just fine on the iPad. My main beef is the absence of an Accordance-like browser (spoiled by Accordance here, too). While we are not scholars, we are “Greek geeks” and love to explore what’s going on underneath the English. We’ll continue to do that on the iPad. But it would be nice to have a volume of EGGNT open on a separate device at the same time.

Bret - Your experience with your Kindle is exactly the kind of thing I’m looking for. I confess that I don’t read much poetry, except in the Bible. (Probably should!). If a book with a lot of Scripture refs is available in Accordance, I’ll buy it there. However, as you mentioned, there are a bunch of good theological works that aren’t and are available on Kindle (Reymond’s systematic theology, for one). And I have had a few very bad experiences with charts & images in the Kindle app. The only things that displayed well in those books were the covers!

Dan - I’m glad to hear that Accordance is working so well in a Kindle! The problem is that we’ve maxed out our installs. Steve uses my license in his desktop, and I use the remainder on my devices. Steve has his own license for his IPad, iPhone and laptop. We have duplicate resources, but there was no way to avoid that. I’m the primary user, partly because I’ve been at it longer. He didn’t go back to a Mac until a couple of months before he retired. (I don’t know how he found time to work! He’s busy all the time since retirement.)

Rick - For the works with a lot of Hebrew or Greek, if they’re not to be had in Accordance, I’ll go with dead tree versions, not Kindle. There are a few books we have deliberately duplicated - the Greek and Hebrew grammars we used in school. We have them in Accordance and in print. Accordance’s capability to search multiple fields is one of the reasons why we always buy, and will continue to by, in Accordance when we can. That is only one feature that makes Accordance, hands down, the best tool for studying the Word of God.

I use my iPad a lot. I also like to do some light reading at at bedtime. I’ve looked at a couple of YouTube videos that were helpful. One reviewer said she liked the lack of interruption when reading on the Kindle - no notifications, no noise, more like reading a paper book. I will confess that weight, battery-life, and absence of reflection are significant factors in the draw. Another thing is the issue of shelf space, dusting, and how much stuff our kids will have to deal with when we die. We’re making a real effort here to get rid of a lot of things.

Thank you so much for your input. You’ve been very helpful, but then I knew you would be, and that I’d receive solid, unbiased information.

Edited by Julia Falling
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I had a Kindle Paperwhite a few years back and really loved it.  I just found that I always had my iPad with me and would just end up reading there and frequently ended up carrying both.  I've honestly thought about getting another Paperwhite frequently over the last year because reading in bed or outside is just so much more pleasant on the Paperwhite, and I seem to be doing a lot more of that lately.  

 

My real problem at the moment is most my eBooks are now in Apple iBooks because the Kindle app (to me) is just not that good.  As a software developer, I can't unsee things that drive me crazy with Kindle's app (like book sizes in the organizational views now being consistent / proportional, etc).  I so wish that books could be easily transferred between platforms, much like DRM-less music has become today (at least outside of streaming).   To note, I'm specifically speaking of ePub books — I absolutely understand the value added by Accordance with it's tagging and such. 

 

While I'm giving my wish-list — I wish you could buy paper books and be able to get the eBook for a deeply discounted price.  Amazon does actually do this with a small number of books, but not enough (or not enough of the ones I buy) to make me switch to Kindle (yet).

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Hi Julia,

I just got a Paperwhite a few weeks ago. Battery life is a bit of a shock compared to my iPad mini. I haven't recharged it yet.

The Greek font face varies significantly when you select one of the nine supplied fonts, so you have a good chance of finding one that you like. The Hebrew looks pretty much the same whichever font you choose. It's hard to tell at a glance what changed, but the font size changes enough for the line breaks to be different. It's passable, sometimes the vowels and accents run into each other.

I read my own pdfs in Hebrew and Greek. It was simple to transfer these to the Paperwhite.

Now I'm wondering how I lived without one. Very comfortable on the eyes.

Regards,

Michel

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I wish you could buy paper books and be able to get the eBook for a deeply discounted price).

I liked it when the (computer) books used to come with a pdf version on disc.

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Interesting.  When we travel, I take the iPad instead of my laptop (weight!).  But I don't always have my iPad with me.  I have a special zippered compartment in my pocketbook designed for an iPad.  I take my iPad to church in it.  Works great but adds a lot of weight to my shoulder.  For Sunday, it's not a problem.  

 

However, I typically leave my iPad at home at other times.  It would be nice to have something with me when I get stuck somewhere.  Something lightweight.  (I avoid leaving my iPad or computer in the car.)  I don't read many magazines and am not suited to staring off into space.  Michel, what you have experienced with your Kindle is what I am looking forward to.  PDFs, too!

 

I am definitely looking for something that is easier on my eyes in the evening and outside during the day – for a better, more comfortable, reading experience.

 

Rich – What you have said is why I'm a bit torn.  Do I really need yet another device?  Seems like an extravagance.  However, we own some Amazon stock, and some Apple stock.  Doesn't that make us obligated to support both companies?  (Does that sound like rationalization? :wacko:)

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I liked it when the (computer) books used to come with a pdf version on disc.

Humph, I liked it when we got papyrus with our clay tablet versions. ;-)

Edited by Solly
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A bit of kindling, a bit of wood, a fire to bake a clay tablet, and the original Kindle Fire HD (Hard, Durable) tablet was born . . .

 

Edited: HD

Edited by Michel Gilbert
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A bit of kindling, a bit of wood, a fire to bake a clay tablet, and the original Kindle Fire HD (Hard, Durable) tablet was born . . .

 

Edited: HD

 

And it never needed charging.  :) 

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My real problem at the moment is most my eBooks are now in Apple iBooks because the Kindle app (to me) is just not that good.  

 

I agree that iBooks has better layout of books than the Kindle app. Unfortunately, I often forget to see if a title is available for iBooks. 

 

While I'm giving my wish-list — I wish you could buy paper books and be able to get the eBook for a deeply discounted price.  Amazon does actually do this with a small number of books, but not enough (or not enough of the ones I buy) to make me switch to Kindle (yet).

 

I have converted hundreds of paper books to digital by scanning them in my Fujitsu document scanner. The final format is PDF retaining the layout of the original but is searchable and can be highlighted. I generally read these books in GoodReader on the iPad. I settled on GoodReader as a PDF reader years ago because it was the only PDF reader at the time that didn’t choke on large (800 pages or greater) books that I had scanned. I’m sure other PDF readers have improved since then.

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I agree that iBooks has better layout of books than the Kindle app. Unfortunately, I often forget to see if a title is available for iBooks. 

 

 

 

I have converted hundreds of paper books to digital by scanning them in my Fujitsu document scanner. The final format is PDF retaining the layout of the original but is searchable and can be highlighted. I generally read these books in GoodReader on the iPad. I settled on GoodReader as a PDF reader years ago because it was the only PDF reader at the time that didn’t choke on large (800 pages or greater) books that I had scanned. I’m sure other PDF readers have improved since then.

 

I've got so many books in Kindle format that I just don't want to split my stuff between the two apps – I'd waste time looking for stuff.  If I know to go to the Kindle app, that hassle is eliminated.

 

I don't know that we have many books that we can't get electronically, but I'm not sure.  That digital scanner sounds like a great way to go.  Searchability is one of the great advantages of digital (plus not having to acquire more shelf space and then having to dust it all).

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This is what bugs me about electronic formats. Real books go in shelves and mostly just fit. For these things I need different and incompatible devices. I realise you can get reader apps for most but then I have to have separate collections, and I cannot just see them all. I guess I need a bookshelf that can store them all in one place so I can see them and then boot each reader as appropriate to the book format. This would work better on desktops than mobile I guess. But I wonder if anyone has written an aggregator bookshelf app for mobiles that can do this. I know there are readers that just suck it all up into their own library and run their own reader reading many formats but I think I would prefer a bookshelf app that launched the correct reader. The problem is that the readers integrate the reader and bookshelf.

 

This may all the off base - I haven't checked it out in a while. Last time I tried this was with Calibre. In any case it would be nice to have one reader UI to learn rather than several but I guess.

 

And all that is before we get to hardware. But I agree with others, the Paperwhite is a nice device.

 

@Rick with that scanner do you pretty much have to disassemble the book ?

 

Thx

D

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Another thing is the issue of shelf space, dusting, and how much stuff our kids will have to deal with when we die.

Having cleared out both my parents and in laws properties recently and having our clutter issues being identified by our daughters, I am switching as much as possible but really challenging if I really, really really need something!!!!

 

Especially as my eldest daughter doesn’t like ebooks, though she would benefit most from my Accordance Library.

 

;o)

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Fraser – Not easy to part with some things.  I guess we need to be realistic about what we really use and need.  My husband has sold a whole lot of stuff on eBay and Craig's list.  

 

I need to go through every room in the house and collect rarely used or unneeded stuff and just get rid of it.

 

Can one bequeath a Kindle library?  Certainly we can an Accordance Library.  I should check into that!

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@Rick with that scanner do you pretty much have to disassemble the book ?

 

 

Hi Daniel,

 

I haven't done nearly as many as Rick, but when I did do some, I used a razor to cut at the glue's edge, and ran pages through the automatic feeder.

 

One problem I'm already experiencing with pdfs on my Kindle is that the text is often too small, even in landscape mode, so I'll have to go back to remake some of them with narrower margins/fewer words per line. A lot of my pdfs were scanned and OCRed, then saved as docx files and exported to pdf, so I can revisit those text files to make them fit better on the Kindle screen.

 

Regards,

 

Michel

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@Michel, So does that mean that the Kindle cannot zoom the text on these or rather that when you do zoom in you are then left with a page that is wider than the screen which you have to navigate about on ?

 

Thx

D

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Here is an example. I have a Kindle version of the Modern Hebrew NT from Logos when they had send to Kindle, and my own pdf version of it. If I pinch and zoom or change font size in the Kindle version, it resets the margins automatically as you would expect. But if I pinch and zoom on my pdf to make it larger, yes, I lose part of the page off the screen. And, navigating to the other parts off the screen is not as smooth, responsive, or as fast as on an iPad or Android tablet. It's much preferable to have a pdf with a full page on the screen, and just tap to the next page.

 

Even if I'm in landscape mode reading my HNT pdf, it cuts the page in half, and sometimes tapping or swiping between top and bottom halves does not work smoothly, i.e., you have to take a second to find out where you were. It will be much more enjoyable for me to just remake these types of pdfs.

 

Regards

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Yeah ok I see. Painful.

 

Thx

D

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That is my experience of pdf on a kindle. After you zoom in you then have to 'move' the pdf around as you read it unless you have set up the pdf such that when it is viewed on the kindle it has the correct font size so that it can be read easily with the whole page displayed.

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Yep - reflowable text is what you want.

 

Thx

D

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Guess I'll stick with the iPad for reading PDFs.

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