Beware the New “Needs”

“To do your work properly, you need an iPhone.”

“I really need a high-definition TV.”

“This internet connection isn’t fast enough. I need to upgrade my plan.”

“You need to get on Facebook.”

These are sample statements that accurately reflect some prominent thinking today. Instead of believing it would be a privilege to have or use some new piece of technology, we think and often boldly proclaim it a “need” – justifying its purchase, use and sometimes misuse. This twisted way of thinking is profitable for gadget manufacturers, software providers and other businesses, but rarely a net-positive for believers in Christ.

If we sit down and honestly contemplate the items that fit into the “need” category, it can be pretty humbling. It should be humbling enough to make us use the word carefully, especially as it relates to the latest technology.

Beware the new needs. They are usually wants, desires and preferences. Let’s use the word “need” as carefully as God would have us use it, rarely (if ever) applying it to new gadgets and gizmos.

GoBible Voyager: Review, Overall Impressions

If you compare the GoBible Voyager to an iPod or other popular mp3 players, you are probably going to be disappointed. It has neither the design quality, usability nor high tech edge of most within its price range. That doesn’t mean it is not good, for what it is; it just means comparison to the latest gadgets on the electronics store shelves will make it seem rather lacking.

This device is not primarily for use as an mp3 player. Its chief aim is to provide a simple, preloaded Bible-listening solution. Each of its features was provided to help the user locate and more conveniently listen to scripture. In this effort, I believe its creators have done an admirable job.

The GoBible package contains a set of matching in-ear headphones, a USB cable for file transfer, soft case, one AAA battery and the unit itself. The GoBible is just about the right size, fitting most hands well and is very light. Its screen is simple, with a green back-lit, one color readout. The buttons on the front respond well and seem sturdy enough to handle wear. I think the headphones and case will be throw-aways for most people. The phones are difficult to fit in the ear and definitely not up the the standard you are probably already accustomed – and the case just doesn’t seem very useful.

A couple of concerns came up right away, like the battery door, which did not sit flush with the body of the unit. I was afraid it may get snagged or caught during use and pop off. Thus far that has not been a problem. The other concern was the general durability of its very light plastic build. After using it for a couple of days, however, I am finding it studier that I had first imagined.

I appreciated the menu navigation immediately. The opening screen gives an option to select Old Testament, New Testament, Story Index, Special Features and My Downloads. From there you can select books chapters and verses (or stories/features), then simply hit play when you find the one you want. Up, down, right, left and menu buttons are located in the center, with play and lock buttons on the right. Yes, it is very basic, but that makes it easy enough for virtually anyone to use and appreciate.

I chose the excellent King James Version read by Alexander Scourby. In my opinion the narration on this version is a cut above the others. Sound quality is very good and the volume range is perfect. You’ll also want to utilize the 3 gigs of extra space – just plug in the USB cable and the device will perform just like any other external memory. I have loaded that free space with sermons, but you could also easily drag and drop music files or any other audio as well.

The bottom line: the GoBible Voyager is very good if you intend it to be a Bible-listening device only. Comparing it head-to-head with other media players really isn’t fair because it is not meant to fulfill the same purpose.

I am listening to entire books and large portions of scripture and playing specific passages over and over to help with memorization. For these purposes it has been really excellent so far. While in the past I have attempted to load a series of Bible mp3′s on another device, I found them difficult to navigate and too labor intensive to label and import in an organized fashion. This device has solved that problem completely.

GoBible has a terrific website. If you are interested in having a player dedicated specifically to Bible-listening you should definitely consider it. For those looking to get a multi-purpose media player that happens to have the Bible pre-loaded, I would try other options.

Create a Self-hosted Lifestream with Sweetcron

One of the current problems with the proliferation of social networks and other online services is the difficulty people have compiling (or aggregating) an abundance of personal content from all over the internet. Many are posting photos to Flickr or Picasa, videos to YouTube or Vimeo, status updates to Facebook or Twitter and a variety of other items to sites web-wide. The solution has become something called “lifestreaming”, which is another in the countless series of incomprehensible buzzwords that simply means putting all your stuff on one page that is organized chronologically. See my personal lifestream for clarity.

The fact is, most of these lifestream solutions are in their infancy and require creating another account. FriendFeed is among the best providers of this type and while we use and love it, it is often too complicated for non-techies. It has also become primarily a vehicle for carrying on conversations about the items posted, so…if you’re not interested in participating, you’re really not utilizing many of its most powerful features.

What can one do instead? Well, we have decided to install a piece of software called Sweetcron on our own webhost, so we can archive the information within our own database, make it searchable and display it on a custom domain. I know, that’s even more complicated than FriendFeed, but for us – along with many others – we think it’s the best solution.

Sweetcron is beautifully simple. It provides an easy to use admin area that features a minimal blogging interface, a manager for your social network feeds (which it calls items) and a couple of other options to customize your install. It is not a full-featured content management system, but it does what is advertisied very well. I think it will be a refreshing depature for anyone using one of the more blog-centric systems or custom content management solutions.

There are a couple of excellent resources for installing Sweetcron if you want to try it. The software developer maintains a Google Code page with installation instuctions and a few other sites have also developed tutorials for the software. We could potentially help you set up one of these streams too if you just let us know what you need. I have done it a couple of times now and feel pretty comfortable working my way through an install, theme selection and customization.