Digitizing the Word

Reading an electronic book with basic page-turning software is one thing. Allowing readers to interact with the text is something entirely different. From desktops to iPhones and soon to iPads, Logos Bible Software is making book studying an interactive endeavor. And that difference is what Bob Pritchett says puts his company 18 years ahead of the e-book competition.

The president and CEO of the Bellingham-based business says that with over 10,000 paper books all related to biblical study converted and tagged in the Logos digital library, Bible study with Logos blows away normal Kindle-like e-book reading.

If given one book to read cover to cover, the choice between paper or e-book would simply be a matter of preference, Pritchett says. But if he trucked in 10,000 paper books for additional research, there is no comparison. Logos’ tagged e-books hunt down information within scholarly titles and commentaries, enabling students of the Bible, including pastors, scholars and lay people, to delve as deeply into the text as they desire. “It harnesses a large digital library easily and that is a big difference for us from everyone else in our space,” he says.

The Logos engine works nearly anywhere, from a customer’s computer, any web-connected device, through a powerful iPhone application and soon to a similar iPad app, all with a cross-platform license. Because of this diversity, Logos isn’t reliant on the success of any one device, which keeps Pritchett tempered on how the iPad will change his business model. He isn’t sure—even though he is planning to buy an iPad for himself—if people will be as tied to it as they are to their iPhones. His iPhone never leaves his side. Ever. He can’t imagine that will be the case with his iPad. And it certainly isn’t with his Kindle. So whatever the platform delivering Logos service, he says it is all a “tool to help do more and better Bible study.”

And people are buying in. With over $20 million in sales in 2009, Logos has been growing since it was founded in 1992. The most rapid rise has been in the last seven years, mainly because people are converting from paper-based Bible study to electronic, Pritchett says. That has allowed Logos to bulk up to 175 employees, mainly in software development (writing code), text development (converting paper materials to electronic while providing the referencing within) and customer service (there is free tech support for all platforms).

Pritchett uses his personal Kindle to read novels, but says that study is more involved than

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