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Recommended Accordance to a Friend, but...


William Cross

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My thoughts would be that I wonder if what people consider "Mac like" depends on when they came to the Mac. Accordance still reflects the classic Mac UI, it has the benefit of allowing it to run on older computers, but it could also be what for newer user makes it difficult when they they are expecting something different on Mac OS X. While the classic Mac UI set the standard for GUIs on computers for many years and is familiar to those who have been on the Mac a long time, when I think of "Mac like" now I think of programs that come with Mac OS X and iLife and iWork applications. I appreciate the work that has been done on Accordance over the years and look forward to what you have in store, but I think this should also be considered when developing the program. I don't think it is just a matter of aesthetics, but also a matter of usability in terms of how programs are organized and function.

 

David

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I appreciate the work that has been done on Accordance over the years and look forward to what you have in store, but I think this should also be considered when developing the program. I don't think it is just a matter of aesthetics, but also a matter of usability in terms of how programs are organized and function.

 

David

 

 

Well said David! I've only been on a Mac since late 2006 and the OS interface has changed considerably just in the last 5 years.

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I don't think or notice it. I do find the interface to be as smooth as silk though and once you watch a few videos, it is very easy to pick up the logic.

 

As a person that is new to both Macs and Accordance (but not computers, I stated with Fortran II on a 360) I don't find either to be completely intuitive, both have a learning curve. I do find that the Training DVD videos on the website are very helpful and I'd suggest that a link to this page be sent to new users when they download the demo or buy their first Library. I do agree that trying to remember search commands can be daunting however the ability to pick commands from the Search menu helps.

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... I do find that the Training DVD videos on the website are very helpful and I'd suggest that a link to this page be sent to new users when they download the demo or buy their first Library.

 

Agreed, they are very helpful, although they need to be updated. I have the sneaking suspicion though, that's not going to happen. Thus the push for everyone to watch the podcast instead. Don't get me wrong, the podcast are informative, but my vocabulary is way below Dr. J and I end up having to look up at least one word per paragraph. Not everyone is a Bible Scholar ya know, some of us are just regular people.

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Agreed, they are very helpful, although they need to be updated. I have the sneaking suspicion though, that's not going to happen. Thus the push for everyone to watch the podcast instead. Don't get me wrong, the podcast are informative, but my vocabulary is way below Dr. J and I end up having to look up at least one word per paragraph. Not everyone is a Bible Scholar ya know, some of us are just regular people.

 

I know Tim tries to adapt every 'basic' level podcast for those with no knowledge of Greek/Hebrew and limited experience with Accordance (sometimes none at all). I'm sure he'd appreciate any specific feedback on episodes in that category that were still too advanced in terminology or scope (either on the forum post for the specific episode, or via email/msg).

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This Post has gone on a long time and expressed some great ideas for accordance. For my 0.02, I've never thought of accordance as a basic, consumer program. To my mind, it is a professional grade app and as such requires some prior knowledge of biblical studies method and training to use effectively. This doesn't bother me. In fact, that's why I bought it. I've used others, including logos on pc, and found them totally unacceptable for real research in the languages. This is what I use it for and, thus, I'm not bothered by its initial complexity.

 

I think a great example is photoshop. If all you want to do is take out red-eye or add sepia tone, that program is way too much work. Just use iPhoto. On the other hand, if your an armature but need to do some more serious editing and creating, you can do it, but expect to spend a few hours on YouTube watching demos first. Then again, if your a professional, most of the layout and terminology is perfectly logical and intuitive. I think it's a matter of what audience the developers are aiming for. I know hat the accordance team has been tryIng to attract consumer level, basic bible study users, but I just don't think this is what the program is. To make it such would require a total redesign and probably upset the schars who depend on the program.

 

I don't mean to belittle those users who are not 'expert' but to simply offer one man's appraisal of the situation. To my mind, accordance is "designed for schars and right for schars and wannabes (like me)". And, frankly, that doesn't bother me at all. Complex problems require complex (even if elegant) solutions. Anything less is reductionist.

 

 

Sorry for typos. Wrote this on the iPhone!

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This Post has gone on a long time and expressed some great ideas for accordance. For my 0.02, I've never thought of accordance as a basic, consumer program. To my mind, it is a professional grade app and as such requires some prior knowledge of biblical studies method and training to use effectively. This doesn't bother me. In fact, that's why I bought it. I've used others, including logos on pc, and found them totally unacceptable for real research in the languages. This is what I use it for and, thus, I'm not bothered by its initial complexity.

 

I think a great example is photoshop. If all you want to do is take out red-eye or add sepia tone, that program is way too much work. Just use iPhoto. On the other hand, if your an armature but need to do some more serious editing and creating, you can do it, but expect to spend a few hours on YouTube watching demos first. Then again, if your a professional, most of the layout and terminology is perfectly logical and intuitive. I think it's a matter of what audience the developers are aiming for. I know hat the accordance team has been tryIng to attract consumer level, basic bible study users, but I just don't think this is what the program is. To make it such would require a total redesign and probably upset the schars who depend on the program.

 

I don't mean to belittle those users who are not 'expert' but to simply offer one man's appraisal of the situation. To my mind, accordance is "designed for schars and right for schars and wannabes (like me)". And, frankly, that doesn't bother me at all. Complex problems require complex (even if elegant) solutions. Anything less is reductionist.

 

 

Sorry for typos. Wrote this on the iPhone!

 

 

Anthony makes an excellent point and one we should all consider. Accordance "is what it is" and that part of it should not change.

However, The academic base will not support Accordance, by it's self, forever and I think Accordance knows this. Even if one wanted to stay where they were, they cannot do so as far as development, for then you become stagnant water. I certainly appreciate the fact Accordance excels in the areas of word studies/original languages etc. For this reason I have recently tried Logos for my library and Accordance to Word studies etc. The Logos experiment of a couple of months time, has not gone well for me at all and am thinking to giving up on that. Thus, for people like myself, we NEED for Accordance to find ways to acquire more resources. I "for one" love a great deal about the Accordance Ui and, find much I just hate about the accordance Ui. The looks of it , well, I couldn't really give a hoot. The only issue I really have with it is the time used in moving screens around, re-sizing them, and trying to figure out where to put the instant details box. That said, I am pretty used to it now and all of that is pretty much part of my set-up for workflow, thus I could I've with it the rest of my life if need be. Accordance just works, works quickly, with stability and accuracy. It does not "beat-up" my computer, and does not present a lot of information I did not ask for to get in the way of my workflow/thought processes.

 

I , for one certainly would not want any of those wonderful attributes to change, would not want any of the ability that Scholars need, to change. However, do indeed think there are markets untouched ( scholarly as well ) and the very real need for broader resources to be made available .

 

Blessings all,

 

Rusty+

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By analogy to photoshop, there is also Elements ( which is perfectly suited to my needs now that lion won't support CS3). I'm not sure exactly what I'm suggesting but it's a thought.

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When I bought Accordance two years ago (version 8.1), I mainly wanted Bible study software for the Mac. No scholarly research or sermon prep for me. ;) I never planned to make much use of anything except the basic features. Speaking from that perspective, I honestly can't remember a time when the interface has distracted me or confused me.

 

The initial learning curve wasn't so big, either, but as I got a taste for what was possible, I began spending more and more time learning how to use the software. It was somewhat cyclical: discover a useful Accordance feature, Bible study improves as a result, check podcasts/blogs/forum for new possibilities, discover another useful Accordance feature, Bible study improves again, and so on.

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I actually am a "switcher" from another product which I had used for a number of years. I found the ui of Accordance somewhat on the bland side since I switched from a product that had lots of "eye candy". I commented on this a long time ago on this forum. I have since added numerous resources to Accordance and remain loyal for two basic reasons. The first is speed. It is lighting quick doing any type of search. The second reason is stability. Accordance is "rock solid" there is also a third reason I just thought of, customer and technical support. While both products have good support Keith at Accordance has personally worked very hard in resolving some of my personal issues. He has gone "above and beyond"! I sincerely appreciate Accordance and Helen who seemingly never sleeps.

 

I have no problem whatsoever recommending Accordance to anyone but a "do-over" of the ui might be warranted. Not a criticism just an honest evaluation. It took me quite a while to warm up to Accordance. BTW more resources would be nice (I know this is being aggressively pursued).

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Agreed, they are very helpful, although they need to be updated. I have the sneaking suspicion though, that's not going to happen. Thus the push for everyone to watch the podcast instead. Don't get me wrong, the podcast are informative, but my vocabulary is way below Dr. J and I end up having to look up at least one word per paragraph. Not everyone is a Bible Scholar ya know, some of us are just regular people.

 

My wife got me Accordance for Christmas this year, and although it's already installed and ready to go (Easy Install was great, BTW), she's made me promise not to do a single search or use the tool until Christmas day. So I've spent some time at the Tutorial DVD just to try to get me up to speed with the user interface. Of course I can't remember everything he does, but it's nice to file away in my brain exactly <i>what</i> Accordance so that I can approach the software with a little bit of observation from an experienced user.

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My wife got me Accordance for Christmas this year, and although it's already installed and ready to go (Easy Install was great, BTW), she's made me promise not to do a single search or use the tool until Christmas day. So I've spent some time at the Tutorial DVD just to try to get me up to speed with the user interface. Of course I can't remember everything he does, but it's nice to file away in my brain exactly <i>what</i> Accordance so that I can approach the software with a little bit of observation from an experienced user.

Welcome to Accordance!
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This Post has gone on a long time and expressed some great ideas for accordance. For my 0.02, I've never thought of accordance as a basic, consumer program. To my mind, it is a professional grade app and as such requires some prior knowledge of biblical studies method and training to use effectively. This doesn't bother me. In fact, that's why I bought it. I've used others, including logos on pc, and found them totally unacceptable for real research in the languages. This is what I use it for and, thus, I'm not bothered by its initial complexity.

 

I think a great example is photoshop. If all you want to do is take out red-eye or add sepia tone, that program is way too much work. Just use iPhoto. On the other hand, if your an armature but need to do some more serious editing and creating, you can do it, but expect to spend a few hours on YouTube watching demos first. Then again, if your a professional, most of the layout and terminology is perfectly logical and intuitive. I think it's a matter of what audience the developers are aiming for. I know hat the accordance team has been tryIng to attract consumer level, basic bible study users, but I just don't think this is what the program is. To make it such would require a total redesign and probably upset the schars who depend on the program.

 

I don't mean to belittle those users who are not 'expert' but to simply offer one man's appraisal of the situation. To my mind, accordance is "designed for schars and right for schars and wannabes (like me)". And, frankly, that doesn't bother me at all. Complex problems require complex (even if elegant) solutions. Anything less is reductionist.

 

 

Sorry for typos. Wrote this on the iPhone!

This is a interesting review. I had not really thought of it from this vantage point. Accordance is very powerful, and complex and if we just want a reader with basic search features, I'd recommend the new Biblereader from Olivetree. But for serious study, Accordance is the only one mac or pc that has the capabilities needed.
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I'd like to see a little 'cheat sheet' search window that could pop-up near the search box. I use the software too infrequently to remember all of the commands. Having a little pop-up window with 6-10 query examples and a small definition would go a long way...

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I'd like to see a little 'cheat sheet' search window that could pop-up near the search box. I use the software too infrequently to remember all of the commands. Having a little pop-up window with 6-10 query examples and a small definition would go a long way...

 

Remember that you can find all of the commands, symbols, and tags under "Search" in the menu bar.

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