Update from Bill McCarthy - CEO Logos
Hey Forum Members!
Please see the attached video for an update from our team at Logos!
Thank you for your support and more so, thank you for changing lives.
B.
Comments
-
The time taken to make the video is appreciated..... Not sure I'd personally categorize it as an update - nothing I haven't heard since Mark posted the initial notice of change in models....
Hopefully there will be another, but informative update soon.... Just missed out on my second sale waiting on Logos to make a decision on our feedback...
Logos 10 - OpenSuse Tumbleweed, Windows 11, Android 16 & Android 14
0 -
Thanks for the interaction. I'll wait and see how this plays out in relationship to my key interests. Good luck.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
0 -
Thanks Bill, especially that you are getting the feedback from the Forums.
Dave
===Windows 11 & Android 13
0 -
Thanks for sharing this with us Bill!
I am using Logos right now, today, and I use it nearly every day. I am not a great scholar — I am just someone who desires to share the wonder and glory of God to others. The fact that I am able to do so is due to the wonderful tools that God has placed in my hands. In a very real and major way, Logos is a part of those tools.
Whether I am preparing for Sunday school, youth group, men’s group, or the church congregation as a whole, I am able to study quicker and deeper through the tools I have within Logos. Forty years ago, I could not have come close to what I can do now.
I have a great desire that Logos continue to both exist and improve in order to help me in my Bible study. While I may have a preference between ownership of certain aspects as opposed to subscription, in the end, as long as I have breath to speak and teach, I hope that Logos, as a tool to help me in that endeavor, will be beside me.
Without Logos, there truly would not be enough time in the week for me to prepare my materials for all these groups as thoroughly as I do. These People that trust me to help them grow in their knowledge of God are far more important than whether I “own” tools that I use in helping them grow. In the end, none of it really belongs to me anyway.
I am excited about the future growth of Logos, and it is my deep hope that I will be able to continue to use Logos in my Bible study 10 years from now, and even longer as God allows.
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. - Colossians 3:14
0 -
One point Bill made that I hadn't thought of was that the subscription model allows them to invest in new features on a continual basis and not once every 2 years.
My biggest issue with the subscription model is not the continual drip of another monthly or yearly subscription fee. It's just that if I subscribe to the software, I don't have anything to show for it in terms of ownership of the features if I have to stop subscribing. If I buy the feature sets (which I have), I own the features. From a stewardship perspective, that seems to be more responsible. I don't know if it's even possible to adopt a solution to allow some ownership of features under a subscription model. If they could figure that out in a way that is fair, it could allay that concern of mine.
0 -
Thank you, Bill, for taking the time to provide this update and for the promise of future engagement. I find that to be very meaningful. I share your excitement about the future of Logos and love the idea of reaching more people with the tools that Logos offers. I pray you find the path that leads to both profitability and widespread customer satisfaction as you navigate this transition phase. While in theory the two would seem to go hand in hand, I know that great wisdom is required to actually walk that path in real time. Blessings upon you and the Logos team.
0 -
Bill Anderson said:
One point Bill made that I hadn't thought of was that the subscription model allows them to invest in new features on a continual basis and not once every 2 years.
My biggest issue with the subscription model is not the continual drip of another monthly or yearly subscription fee. It's just that if I subscribe to the software, I don't have anything to show for it in terms of ownership of the features if I have to stop subscribing. If I buy the feature sets (which I have), I own the features. From a stewardship perspective, that seems to be more responsible. I don't know if it's even possible to adopt a solution to allow some ownership of features under a subscription model. If they could figure that out in a way that is fair, it could allay that concern of mine.
Being a good steward is important. I understand that for some of us, that would involve being concerned about whether there is true ownership of the tools. Having ownership could help ensure future use of the tool without fear of no longer being able to use that tool, which is why I too would prefer to have that ownership. There are ways though, of being a good steward that do not involve me personally owning something. If I were to give to a good cause, or to the needy, I would be a good steward and yet not own anything through such an action. In a very real sense, I would be putting my investment somewhere other than here.
I believe that it is likely that we all consider both of these aspects of stewardship to be important. That being said, we all are in different places, with our own specific ministries and spiritual needs. This is perhaps why we each see our concern about the future of Logos from a different perspective, and yet with a common concern for our ability to use these tools in the future.
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. - Colossians 3:14
0 -
Aaron Hamilton said:
Thank you, Bill, for taking the time to provide this update and for the promise of future engagement. I find that to be very meaningful. I share your excitement about the future of Logos and love the idea of reaching more people with the tools that Logos offers. I pray you find the path that leads to both profitability and widespread customer satisfaction as you navigate this transition phase. While in theory the two would seem to go hand in hand, I know that great wisdom is required to actually walk that path in real time. Blessings upon you and the Logos team.
It does seem to me that Logos is sincere in their desire to try to make these future moves in a way that benefits us in the best way that they can, and I too will continue to pray for them in their endeavor.
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. - Colossians 3:14
0 -
Thanks Bill
Good to hear from you - and to hear more of your heart and passion for what you anf the team are doing and enabling
Graham
0 -
Thank you for the video update Bill. Much appreciated.
0 -
Amazing! Thanks!
You are blending together 21st leadership by engaging transparently, and also making it clear that you have to roll out the bigger picture.
Change is not easy... and there is usually a hard way or a harder way.
Thanks for taking the better path. Prayers said for you!
0 -
Thank you, Mr. McCarthy.
KSC
“Let us begin, brothers, to serve the Lord God, for up until now we have done little or nothing.” St. Francis of Assisi
0 -
Bill - thanks for the update; it is reassuring. The subscription model does not bother me. If there is value in it, I am fine.
I think the biggest concern I have is that Logos is mostly owned by a PE firm. I appreciate your words about them and hope they continue to understand the uniqueness of Logos. My worry is that if they think Logos is not hitting profitability targets, they will put pressure on you to do things that are not in the best interests of your customer base. Or that they would sell the company to another entity that would not understand the company at all.I'm not complaining and I realize these are hypotheticals. But those are thoughts that run through my mind. I've been a Logos customer for 24+ years and plan to continue and invest. I want Logos to succeed just as much as you do.
Macbook Air (2024), Apple M2, 16gb Ram, Mac Sequoia, 1TB storage
0 -
Before investing further, I am waiting to see what value there will be in my further investment.
I am also interested in services--even subscription: what I value (as far as I know so far) will not be more unfinished shiny gadgets, or expensive to build and maintain AI, but polishing of current unfinished features.I had hoped that AI would be used--not for chat, not for artificial summaries, not for hokey illustrations, but as a tool to make complex searches less esoteric and more plain language.
LLM is freely available but requires costs of programming knowledge to integrate with Logos search, but nothing of the sort that requires subscription. Logos has people who could do that.
I almost wish Logos would let me do it. But I don't have time. I would buy that capability. I would not subscribe to gimmicky use of AI.0 -
I am grateful that (somewhere else on these forums) the point was made that our investment in Logos version 10 will continue to be maintained and updated, even if a subscription model rolls out.
My state in life as a Benedictine monk makes paying for a subscription service impossible. (I can only make one-off payments for books, for example, for my seminary studies or for research.) So, if/when Logos moves to a subscription model, I will be unable to participate and will depend on Verbum 10 to be maintenanced for my community's past investment in my library to continue to be useful. (On the other hand, if Logos continues with 2-year rollout cycles, I can participate in purchasing feature sets at least as much as my seminary book budget allows.)
0 -
Thank you Sam. Notes like these inspire myself and our entire company!!
0 -
Thanks, Bill, for the update. The feedback from customers has been clear and consistant. Some of the feedback has been ignored in the past few years which is concerning. Some wonderful features have never been completed.
A subcription model has already existed where updates to new features were promised in real time called Logos Now (those that did not subscribe had to wait two years). When it was replaced with Faithlife Connect, we were promised that we would retain all the features of Logos Now which would thus include instant updates without waiting 2 years (see https://connect.faithlife.com/now-faq as well as the post from Phil Gons here).
I wish you well. I know it takes wisdom to navigate a changing world. So hopefully you are surrounded by wise people who know how to read the market. Hoping to continue to enjoy Logos for a long time to come.
0 -
Br Damien-Joseph OSB said:
My state in life as a Benedictine monk makes paying for a subscription service impossible. (I can only make one-off payments for books, for example, for my seminary studies or for research.) So, if/when Logos moves to a subscription model,
While Logos has not completed or announced the transition away from 2-year update cycle. They have already been offering subscription for years (Proclaim Software, Proclaim Pro Media, Logos Now, Faithlife Connect, etc.) in all 4 of these programs I ONLY pay once a year for my subscription. It saves me hassle AND reduces the administrative bookkeeping of Logos staff.
Granted, I do not know what how an annual subscription is viewed by your Order, but annual MAY fit into the one-off policy.
Making Disciples! Logos Ecosystem = LogosMax on Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (Win11), Android app on tablet, FSB on iPhone & iPad mini, Proclaim (Proclaim Remote on Fire Tablet).
0 -
Bill McCarthy said:
Thank you Sam. Notes like these inspire myself and our entire company!!
Bill, you are most welcome! It is such a blessing when we lift each other up.
Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. - Colossians 3:14
0 -
Thanks Bill for your remarks.
I have a question. Are we able to invest in Logos directly through the private equity firm?
Meanwhile, Jesus kept on growing wiser and more mature, and in favor with God and his fellow man.
International Standard Version. (2011). (Lk 2:52). Yorba Linda, CA: ISV Foundation.
MacBook Pro MacOS Sequoia 15.4 1TB SSD
0 -
Bill,
Thank you for the update. As you know, Microsoft offers Microsoft 365 as a monthly subscription but they also offer periodic Office perpetual licenses as well in order to satisfy its customer base.
This type of model would satisfy both sets of Logos users as well as provide a steady revenue stream. While I would continue to buy perpetual Logos updates as I have done up to this point, I might be tempted to subscribe in addition to that at some point.
In this dual model you would have the occasional large cash flow from perpetual sales along with monthly revenue.
It would be nice to hear from you regarding the perpetual purchase option as this is on the minds of a lot of users.
0 -
Steven MacDonald said:
Bill,
Thank you for the update. As you know, Microsoft offers Microsoft 365 as a monthly subscription but they also offer periodic Office perpetual licenses as well in order to satisfy its customer base.
This type of model would satisfy both sets of Logos users as well as provide a steady revenue stream. While I would continue to buy perpetual Logos updates as I have done up to this point, I might be tempted to subscribe in addition to that at some point.
In this dual model you would have the occasional large cash flow from perpetual sales along with monthly revenue.
It would be nice to hear from you regarding the perpetual purchase option as this is on the minds of a lot of users.
[Y]
Steven expressed my thoughts better than I could have myself. I'm not opposed to companies offering subscriptions, but for personal reasons - I'm approaching retirement - a subscription model is not a great fit for me.
0 -
I am retires, so my income earning days are done, as well. A monthly payment would make my credit card tap me on the shoulder, and shake its head.
0 -
Beloved Amodeo said:
Thanks Bill for your remarks.
I have a question. Are we able to invest in Logos directly through the private equity firm?
The point of PE funding is that it’s private, not public, so you would not be able to invest in Logos unless you bought into the PE firm as a partner. Your buy-in capital would be used towards whatever companies the firm decides to invest in, not just for Logos.
0 -
That was very encouraging! Thank you, Bill. I'm praying Matt 10:16 for you and those around you who are navigating the ways of the world at Logos. All God's best!
0 -
God bless you Bill it is very intersting!
Blessings in Christ.
0
