I have a pretty eclectic collection of apps on my iPhone, ranging from a pedometer to Domino’s Pizza (which probably explains the need for a pedometer) to Walgreens (who knew you could refill a prescription simply by taking a picture of the barcode?) to a graphing calculator to … well, you get the idea.
The idea that there’s a Bible application, however, would never have occurred to me had I not heard about Edifi, an Android-based tablet that will hopefully “spread God’s word through a tablet”, according to Brian Honorable of Family Christian, the company behind the Edifi.
Family Christian is evidently trying to address the “inevitable intersection of technology and religion.”
Hmm …
Just for kicks and giggles, I searched “Bible” in my iPhone’s App Store, and there were scores of free downloads (and, for .99, I could go for the “Daily Audio Bible” should I so desire).
So why would anyone, even the most devout of Christians, opt for the Edifi, which sells for around $150 and is designed to be similar to Amazon’s Kindle Fire, when there are so many varieties of tablets?
The Christian tablet is more than just an e-reader. It also comes with movie-watching capabilities, Christian radio stations, and even a web browser with built-in “safe search,” so the tablet is safe for the whole family. “We put that on there just in case it was given as a gift to a child, so they wouldn’t have access to things they shouldn’t have access to,” said Honorable. “We definitely had to tailor it to our customers.”
Ah, so there’s the crux of it. Basically, religious radicals are accepting that technology can’t be ignored forever, particularly by teens and tweens, so here’s a great way to control the situation, to micromanage the message that people are hearing in the hopes that they …