Reading on My iPhone

One of the unexpected benefits of owning an iPhone is that I now have more time to read the Bible and other books.

Sure, the first couple of months were full of finding new apps, tweeting more regularly, facebooking from anywhere, etc. But a couple of the apps have actually helped me to be more productive. *SHOCK*

I'll write another post about the iPhone apps I use for GTD, but this one is about reading.

So, maybe it turns out I wasn't always reading books because I didn't always have books with me. Sitting in a waiting room, in a cafe, at a park, while my son is climbing over the play structure at the mall, etc. But I do always have my iPhone with me.

First, I read the Bible with You Version (FREE). The iPhone app still isn't what I'd like it to be. I want to easily highlight specific words or multiple verses. I want to be able to take notes and make comments in an intuitive way. But, I can read the Bible, in the version of my choosing (except there's no Greek or Hebrew!) wherever I want. I can download Bible versions to reside on my iPhone, so I can read scripture even when I don't have a wireless signal. I can highlight the things that jump out at me. I can quickly find specific text references. I can use the nifty read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year function to tell me what part of the Holy Scriptures God should be speaking through today (just kidding).

If you don't have an iPhone, you can still use You Version online. It's an okay free online Bible program. Although, frankly, what I want from an online Bible site is good exegetical resources.

Second, I now use Kindle for iPhone (FREE). Just download the free app onto your iPhone, buy Kindle books at Amazon.com, and *POOF* they show up on your iPhone. I've found the Kindle app to be intuitive. I can highlight, make notes, copy and paste into other applications... And my notes and highlights are sync'd with all my other Kindle devices (umm... I don't actually have any others. I'm just sayin' I could if I did.).

And it turns out you can read your Kindle books on a PC, too (but not a Mac, yet) with a free Kindle reader download.

From time to time, authors offer their new books on Kindle for FREE.

Some church-related ones FREE on 11/20/2009:

Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing:
How Leaders Can Overcome Costly Mistakes
by Geoff Surratt

Apprentice
by Steve Chalke

Halley's Bible Handbook with the New International Version
by Henry H. Halley

Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands
by Nancy Ortberg

The Dude Abides
by Cathleen Falsani

Sin Boldly:
a Field Guide for Grace
by Cathleen Falsani

See all of Amazon's new FREE Kindle books.

Gadget Alert - Mac "Subnotebook" in '07?

So yesterday I posted about Vulcan's new FlipStart. It's so cute and portable. And I wished aloud that Apple had such a thing in the works...

Today, I came across this Reuters article talking about how Apple may start using flash drives "in small computers known as subnotebooks in the second half of 2007."

Then I found this article on ThinkSecret about Apple posting a job for "Manager of Mobile Mac Architecture."

What could it all mean? Could we see a very small Mac Book with a thumb keypad in our future? Then I could really get rid of my Palm Pilot and just have my GTD system in one system. Not that I want to get rid of the Palm Pilot, but it just makes so much more sense to only have to interface with one operating system that will do everything I want it to do...

iNotebook? iMacBook? iMCrazy?

Okay, these last couple of posts have been a little off topic. I apologize. But it's all sooo exciting! I just had to share.

Gadget Alert - Tiniest Laptop Ever!

Okay. I may have been a little hasty a couple of posts ago to write off ever using MSWindows again.
jkOnTheRun has just posted a 20-minute video review of the Vulcan FlipStart.
He writes:

The FlipStart is essentially a tiny laptop complete with a full QWERTY keyboard, trackpad, trackstick, integrated EV-DO, and a secondary display in the LID. It’s taken a while to get the FlipStart out the door but it appears Vulcan has used that time wisely with a lot of attention to detail and a very solid build quality.

The unit I am using has a Pentium M 1.1 GHz processor with 500 MB of RAM, A 30 GB hard drive, Windows XP SP2, integrated EV-DO, and a web cam.

He even says you can use it for VoIP. This would be a great replacement for my Palm Pilot and a great addition to my GTD family of inboxes.

Now, if only Mac made one of these. (Maybe a good next project after the iPhone).

Some FlipStart downsides: Older processor, high price ($2000), non-upgradable memory, etc.

Go to the Vulcan FlipStart website.

Here's the video: