Of course, that got me thinking on the lines of electronic books, ebooks, and how we’d probably not hear too much about book fairs where people are swaping, sharing, and purchasing these. The model for ebooks doesn’t seem to make something like this happen easily. Then again, there is the lending feature that some ebook services offer, and that does point to something that could be done here.
I thought a bit further, and my thoughts asked about my experiences and the testimonies with the Kiosk Evangelism Project, Door43, and Open Church. These are all projects which aim to make available some of the depth of locally- and globally-produced text, audio, and video material using technologies developed in and around the Internet. What if these kinds of projects could be extended to the idea of a eBook book fair? What could that look like?
First, there’d have to be some kind of library of content. If I’m thinking like the Kiosk Evangelism Project, then that should definitely be a few Seagate GoFlex Satellites configured in a room, with numbered SSIDs (for example [book fair name] a-d #1, [book fair name] e-j #2, etc.). This would enable those participating to at least be able to identify from their connected devices that content is available. I’d also have some kind of moderator there with a central laptop (?) that has all of the content on that device which would be used to transfer content to those persons who have devices which aren’t able to connect to the GoFlex units. I’d probably opt to have them organized by subject, rather than author, with that central laptop admin being the “librarian” – helping with searches, connecting to the LAN, etc.
Second, I’d have the GoFlex units labeled on a table with chairs and snacks around them. I’d probably do something fun like a scavenger hunt or something like a “speed dating” effect where people only sit in a space for a little bit of time. I’d encourage them to talk with each other about what they are downloading, what they like, and what they don’t. Probably having some kind of survey to be filled out afterwards (low tech with paper, high tech via SMS).
Lastly, I’d turn it into something of a traveling book fair and connect with the local worship centers and schools asking them to have prepared resources they’d like for people to be able to download and read. From the main laptop, I’d want to provision the libraries with that material before the book fair gets started. And (if possible) give them some kind of report (EpiSurveyor) towards what people downloaded and if there were any reported problems with that content (low tech paper, or high tech SMS again).
Thinking about this more, one could actually skip the LAN server piece, and just hand out memory cards with random selections to each table of people, do a once-over on how to share the content via Bluetooth or card swapping, and make a ebook fair happen on the level of each table. But, then ask people to remember a marker that was on their card and move to another table after a certain amount of time. At the end of the session, the memory card they have in hand is what they get to keep and they are just asked to do the same kind of sharing with friends/family/co-workers.
It feels like this would be a good way to show that our mobile/connected devices can be included within these kinds of social situations. We’d also see something of a different conversation when some people might decide to download some books but request others in print. In this way we can serve two kinds of readers, while electronically having the audio and video files that speak to those who might prefer something less textual.
What are your thoughts? Any reason why this wouldn’t be a good idea? Or, would anyone be interested in trying to make this happen (connect with us and let’s see what can happen)?
We come down pretty hard on Bible apps here at MMM. Either they aren’t focused enough, or they have so many features that people get lost in using them (a 
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What’s Ahead for 2011
Monday, January 3rd, 2011A Mobile Lens for 2011
Mobile will continue to push towards the front of technology, health, educational, and policy conversations in 2011. What will be most interesting is the overlap. As we talked about some last year, contextualization and cross-functional knowledge will play a bigger part in understanding the role of mobile and the impacts to digital faith behaviors. Those individuals and groups that pollinate their mobile perspectives with multiple arenas will remain ahead of trends and applications.
In hardware, we are still looking at more of the same from basic devices (slates, candybar, tablet, some clamshells). Storage and processor technology is again on the verge of stepping up a generation, but battery power isn’t. We should see a few more attempts with device and network intelligence on devices, but only at the highest model ranges. Look at what you see as high-end right now, it will be low/mid-range by the fall.
Price points for devices will come down to orughly $100USD for a smartphone sans contract (currently $130-150). This will continue the transformation of some (mobile savvy) developed markets towards being largely populated with new smartphones. That said, feature phones will continue to sell huge in most markets – and the 2nd owner market should also grow. Service prices will hold steady for a bit longer before we start seeing more tiers in data service offerings with larger carriers. Keep an eye on SIM cards, these might be changing – and not just in size.
Software will continue to go the route of paying attention to user experience and smoother user interface design, though we will get some attention paid to optimization and information security. I wish I could say that users will care about security, but situations such as WikiLeaks shows us that this will remain governmental and enterprise conversations.
Looks like we are on the verge of some jumps in the amount and attention paid to audio and multi-lingual approaches. However, the easiest paths for developing these solutions will continue to be with web-dependent data and transaction services.
Open source will continue as an area of opportunity and frequent barrier in software and business development. Religious content is one of the heaviest areas where DRM and antiquated processes remain, and so the change here to more fluid models is still some time off. We will see more attempts like the Kiosk Evangelism Project and The Evangelical Exegetical Commentary that will push some open source behaviors forward – the catch being with regional and legal issues which don’t change so quickly.
Mobile applications will continue to dominate the conversation in smartphone-heavy markets. Mobile web will pick up steam after Q1 and newer devices will further blurr the line between web and native applications. Would be nice to see a bible software company lead in this area – Logos’s Biblia was a great stepping stone to this.
We will see people more empowered with mobile to create their own solutions through more app-wizard-like programs and processes. I’m not sure if it will come from the faith-based space or outside, but I can see a few groups doing more with mashup-technologies that empower individuals to create solutions, instead of waiting for a larger network to be the solution.
MMM in 2011
If you will, all of this is simply building on the core so that the depth of content hits on as many applications of mobile and digital faith explorations as possible.
2011 aims to be filled with a lot more sending and receiving of Christ in mobile and we invite you to be a part of the signal. Connect with MMM and let’s continue to enable the Body to see the intersection of faith and mobile technology.
*If you are interested in being a contributor to MMM, make your request known via the Contact Form. Include links to sample writing pieces, up to three (3) areas of focus/interest, and how often you’d be contributing by writing. Those who can write in a language besides English are heavily preferred, though all applicants are equally considered.
Tags: Biblia, developed markets, developing markets, DRM, international, mobile applications, mobile ministry certification, mobile web, mobility, open source, price, SIM, smartphone, tech, Wikileaks
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