Official: You Can Now Get Early Access to the Next Version of Logos

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Comments

  • James Dykstra
    James Dykstra Member Posts: 1

    This is a long-awaited feature for me and I'm sure through iterations it has enormous potential to improve Logos. I can now get a summary without backing out and going to my browser to get similar information. It does not replace my AI but qualifies what I need deeper research on. This is well worth the $9.99 without the books compared to pricing on standalone programs. Thank you Logos and I look forward to seeing where this leads your development team.

  • Mattillo
    Mattillo Member Posts: 6,114 ✭✭✭

    This is the right play. Logos is thinking long term. Logos is embracing the future. I subscribed last night and am already seeing the vision. AI allows us to much better utilize the vast amount of resources that Logos offers. 

    I am 100% in support of this. And to think...this is only the beginning of what Logos can do as they embrace the latest tech. I am excited to see where this goes from here!

    Yes Yes 

    I've been beta testing the AI functions for a while and am still finding new advantages when I use them.  They are very helpful and save time as I study and prepare lessons/sermons.

     Are the AI functions in helping to find images/charts in resources?

  • Frank Sauer
    Frank Sauer Member Posts: 1,468 ✭✭✭

    if the Logos engine goes the way of Libronix

    The Logos engine is already hindering the ability to provide users' desired functionality e.g. notes on footnotes, Bible text in commentaries serving as a Bible, etc. And the technology behind data storage is constantly evolving. If Logos is to survive, at some point that basic engine will have to be rewritten. When and how is not predictable - only that it will.

    Subscription based models also would not seem to apply to the follwoing statement on the About Faithlife page, as monthly fees likely limits the accessibility for some.

    We are committed to increasing biblical literacy and accessibility for every Christian around the world.

    Mark has said nothing about changes to the free program option or even other low-end options. We should not assume that the subscription model applies here. It may or may not.

    My point in going the way of Libronix has nothing to do with what Logos can't do going forward, it has to do with losing access to features you've purchased or losing access to the engine itself - depending on what Logos chooses to do.... Which does not line up with us having features we purchase forever as stated by Logos....

    The second point you responded to is again an open ended question due to the vague information that is out there.... While you say we should not assume that the subscription model applies, as you mentioned it may apply, it may not - we have no sure statement on it.... 

    Logos 10 - OpenSuse Tumbleweed, Windows 11, Android 15 & Android 14

  • Dudley Rose
    Dudley Rose Member Posts: 278

    The subscription that will launch later in the year will replace Faithlife Connect and Preaching Suite. So the future state is not Faithlife Connect + Logos Pro. Faithlife Connect will be going away. The future state is just Logos Pro or one of the other subscription tiers.

    Right now, we're not ready with that subscription, so we can't migrate people from Connect to Logos Pro. But later in the year, once we've built out more features and have a migration plan in place, we will be moving customers from Connect to Logos Pro or one of the other tiers. So, right now, you can choose to stay with Connect or get both Connect and Pro. (Theoretically, you could get Pro and then cancel Connect, but we don't recommend it because you'd lose your perks and some features and books.)

    But Connect+Pro is a temporary situation, only during the early access period.

    Mark,

    Like others I have been a Logos user from before Libronix and a Logos Now/Faithlife Connect subscriber from the beginning. I have the Essentials subscription, which gives me continuing access to the full feature set and software upgrades. When I signed up for the special price of $99 per year, the price and access to the features were supposed to be locked in as long as I continued the subscription. It also came/comes with monthly perks, as well. The perks are not very important to me, but I would be very upset if what I understood to be the original contract were to be summarily broken. To be honest, the AI stuff is interesting, but not very useful to me. I have a large(ish) library of high-quality scholarly resources and add to them regularly. I rely on it and Logos' tools (features) for research and writing. I hope this can continue pretty much as promised. 

  • DMB
    DMB Member Posts: 13,414 ✭✭✭

    My point in going the way of Libronix has nothing to do with what Logos can't do going forward, it has to do with losing access to features you've purchased or losing access to the engine itself - depending on what Logos chooses to do.... Which does not line up with us having features we purchase forever as stated by Logos....

    I know I'm just muddying the waters (not intentional). But judging from FL's Church Management behavior, subscriptions do have the excellent benefit of cancelation ... the customer 'owns' nothing.  I can see a major benefit to future flexibility for FL.  All those licenses have got to be a pain.

    "If myth is ideology in narrative form, then scholarship is myth with footnotes." B. Lincolm 1999.

  • BriM
    BriM Member Posts: 287

    and a "maybe" to future purchasable feature sets.

    Not reassuring at all.

    We're listening to you and all our customers. The more feedback we get like yours, the more likely we'll offer future purchasable feature sets.

    Yes, please.

    I'm not interested in a subscription model, particularly where the bulk of my payment would go to online AI features that I'd rarely use.

    I may be tempted by the option to own the new feature sets by a one-off ownership payment for an L11 upgrade in the same way that did for every version since L4.

    From a financial perspective, Logos would get $0 from me for the subscription route (that I wouldn't follow), versus a possible $X from me if there is an enticing feature-set ownership route.

  • Mark
    Mark Member Posts: 2,636 ✭✭✭

    Subscriptions make me feel dirty, so I will unlikely subscribe for long unless there is a similar fallback license to the Jetbrains model. (https://sales.jetbrains.com/hc/en-gb/articles/207240845-What-is-a-perpetual-fallback-license).

    That's an interesting model. That's for the info. (I used to subscribe to Jetbrains, but I'd forgotten all about this license.)

    Yes, I think this idea has merit

  • Mark Barnes (Logos)
    Mark Barnes (Logos) Administrator, Logos Employee Posts: 1,888

    I have also never seen a library subscription which goes anywhere close to meeting my needs. I suspect other users with larger libraries will feel the same. Perhaps if you did a full catalogue subscription like netflix but for books?

    Even Amazon hasn't been able to persuade publishers to offer a Netflix-style subscription for books. Maybe one day it will be possible...

  • Mark Barnes (Logos)
    Mark Barnes (Logos) Administrator, Logos Employee Posts: 1,888

    Mark, One question I would have is which perks us connect users will be losing. Will we lose the 2% cash back, course access, Faithlife TV, and three free classics each month? If this is the case, I would implore Logos to please implement a plan where we can still access courses monthly. This, rather than the feature sets and added books, are a main reason for subscribing for many I would presume. Please take this into consideration.

    Thanks for the feedback. We haven't landed on what perks we'll include with the subscriptions in the fall. It's useful to hear what perks have the most value to you.

  • Mark
    Mark Member Posts: 2,636 ✭✭✭

    should there be a two week, or month-long free trial to Logos Pro?

    I think this also is a good idea

  • Mark Barnes (Logos)
    Mark Barnes (Logos) Administrator, Logos Employee Posts: 1,888

     Since I renewed in February, it is better for me to wait? I thought if we held out, there would be special discounts

    Generally, we recommend waiting. I can't promise additional discounts if you wait, but we don't want people to be worse off by waiting.

  • Jerry Bush
    Jerry Bush Member Posts: 1,110 ✭✭

    Mark, some users have talked about the current perks of Faithlife Connect. My feedback is that the only one I care about is the rebate given yearly. I do enjoy getting that.

    As far as the public domain eBooks, I have a hard time finding something I would use. I only get them now in case they bring the price of a future package down. 

    I like where you are going with this and signed up earlier today. The summary feature is outstanding. 

    iMac (2019 model), 3Ghz 6 Core Intel i5, 16gb Ram, Radeon Pro Graphics. 500GB SSD.

  • Robert Kelbe
    Robert Kelbe Member Posts: 585 ✭✭✭

    We’re still thinking through what that means for purchasable feature sets, and we’d value your feedback on whether the option to purchase would be important to you, knowing that you’d miss out on all the AI and cloud-backed features along with regular updates. 

    Some thoughts for Mark.

    Logos has done good work with dynamic pricing. I would like to see dynamic pricing built into subscriptions. If I've spent money to buy all the feature sets, a subscription for full/continuously updated features should take that into account.

    Alternatively, if I pay a subscription that amounted to a full feature upgrade over the course of 2 years, I would expect to own those features at the end of those two years. I would be reluctant to pay for a subscription if I would be left with nothing when I stopped paying the subscription.

    I do think there is potential for subscription-based resources. When I think of the amount of books that I own, verses how much I actually use, it is a small percentage. In a subscription-based, model, if Logos only had to pay publishers for the books we used, but we paid for the access to a larger number of books, it could be a win-win. I would also want that to be dynamically priced.

  • Mark Barnes (Logos)
    Mark Barnes (Logos) Administrator, Logos Employee Posts: 1,888

    Mark, What about those of us who have not yet bought the entire Logos 10, however, have thousands of books, and thousands of dollars invested into our library? Would we not be eligible for the discount because we have not bought the latest version, although we still have spent thousands on the program? Thanks!

    The discount is mostly given because users with the L10 Full Feature Set already own most of the features and content in Logos Pro. We're still figuring out how to handle situations like yours. Depending on what level of feature set you own, it may be worth your while to upgrade to L10 in order to secure the discount. Maybe later in the year, we'll have some special offers available to make that an even better deal.

  • Phil Gons (Logos)
    Phil Gons (Logos) Administrator, Logos Employee Posts: 3,799

    I have also never seen a library subscription which goes anywhere close to meeting my needs. I suspect other users with larger libraries will feel the same. Perhaps if you did a full catalogue subscription like netflix but for books?

    Even Amazon hasn't been able to persuade publishers to offer a Netflix-style subscription for books. Maybe one day it will be possible...

    One possible approach we've considered is something of a hybrid of Netflix and Audible.

    • It would give you limited access to the whole catalog (or some subset that interests you), where we learn your interests and bubble up the most relevant content for you in Search, Factbook, Guides, etc., giving you a limited summaries and a peak inside, encouraging you to purchase a full license to the content that's most useful to you.
    • It would also give you some number of monthly credits that could be spent to permanently unlock full access to books, to enable you to continue to build a curated library of content that you deem most useful.

    We've tossed around a number of ideas, but we'd love to hear if something like this would strike the right balance between selection and curated full access (while working within the constraints of various licensing and royalty models).

  • Christian Alexander
    Christian Alexander Member Posts: 3,008 ✭✭

    What about those of us who have not yet bought the entire Logos 10

    That is a predicament that I am in as well. I have been a user since 2018. And with the purchase of WordSearch, I will be an indefinite user, likely. I have a mediocre library. I did not upgrade to Logos 10. 

  • Don Awalt
    Don Awalt Member Posts: 3,521 ✭✭✭

    Mark, I subscribed! I notice the About Box still says "Verbum Early Access". Should it say Logos Pro? Does it need a restart?

    In beta, we had "Logos Early Access", because we hadn't settled on the final name of "Logos Pro". We later changed the About screen to "Logos Pro (early access)", but that change didn't quite make it into v32. You'll see the updated language in v33.

    I just installed 33 beta 1, it still says Early Access not Pro. I guess it will come later in the beta versions...

  • Tes
    Tes Member Posts: 4,018 ✭✭✭
  • Frank Hodges
    Frank Hodges Member Posts: 298 ✭✭

    A bit confused on one thing, on the link you sent to subscribe it says "Enjoy 30 days free, then pay $9.99 per month" but when I press the "subscribe" button it takes me to a page to charge $9.99 today.

    Is there a 30 day trial? 

  • Mark Barnes (Logos)
    Mark Barnes (Logos) Administrator, Logos Employee Posts: 1,888

    A bit confused on one thing, on the link you sent to subscribe it says "Enjoy 30 days free, then pay $9.99 per month" but when I press the "subscribe" button it takes me to a page to charge $9.99 today.

    Is there a 30 day trial? 

    I'll look into that for you.

  • Don Awalt
    Don Awalt Member Posts: 3,521 ✭✭✭

    A bit confused on one thing, on the link you sent to subscribe it says "Enjoy 30 days free, then pay $9.99 per month" but when I press the "subscribe" button it takes me to a page to charge $9.99 today.

    Is there a 30 day trial? 

    Are you sure? Mark, when I subscribed yesterday it said my first charge would be on April 6 - so it was 30 days out.

  • Yasmin Stephen
    Yasmin Stephen Member Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭

    A bit confused on one thing, on the link you sent to subscribe it says "Enjoy 30 days free, then pay $9.99 per month" but when I press the "subscribe" button it takes me to a page to charge $9.99 today.

    Is there a 30 day trial? 

    Hmm, was this added today, or did I miss it yesterday because I used the upper 'subscribe' button? 🤔

  • Frank Hodges
    Frank Hodges Member Posts: 298 ✭✭

    Are you sure? Mark, when I subscribed yesterday it said my first charge would be on April 6 - so it was 30 days out.

    This is what I get when I press "Subscribe" 

  • Yasmin Stephen
    Yasmin Stephen Member Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭

    Are you sure? Mark, when I subscribed yesterday it said my first charge would be on April 6 - so it was 30 days out.

    Really? I subscribed yesterday as well and it charged me outright. And I totally missed that 30-days free message if it was there yesterday.

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith Member, MVP Posts: 53,082 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What is "AL Feautre"?

    It is a feature that depends on third-party artificial intelligence (AI) software. Logos pays a fee based on use for the use of AI.

    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."

  • Nathan Parker
    Nathan Parker Member Posts: 751 ✭✭

    I'm not opposed to subscriptions as an option. I personally subscribe to Scribd (now Everand) since my local library is a little weak on book offerings, and so far, Scribd/Everand has saved me more than $10/month (since I pay by the year) on books I'd read once then give away. It has reduced some of my "casual reading" book purchases so I can invest more money in books I want to own and consult for a lifetime. Something like this could potentially interest me (especially if it would be better than Scribd/Everand).

    I am opposed to subscriptions as a replacement for owning my software and content. This past year, I've cancelled or reduced the cost of the majority of my subscriptions and services (especially app subscriptions, plus I canceled my home phone, reduced my cell phone bill, etc) and only kept the ones that are truly adding value or saving me money. I moved most of my apps to replacements I can direct-own instead of subscribe to (Microsoft Office, Ulysses, etc). My life has been simpler, more peaceful, and I love the additional savings, plus I've had extra money to donate to charity. 

    Dr. Nathan Parker

  • Scot Wright
    Scot Wright Member Posts: 164 ✭✭

    I'm always slow on the uptake of these things. If you choose not to subscribe does that mean you will never receive updates or new features to your Logos software?  Or does that mean you will receive the updates and/or new features at a later date than subscribers yet at a predetermined price? I'm unclear on what the options are for keeping my investment up to date. Thanks! 

  • Nathan Parker
    Nathan Parker Member Posts: 751 ✭✭

    I finally was able to get the page to load to see what I'd get with Logos Pro.

    I'm still not convinced.

    Right now, the only two features I'd potentially use would be Smart Search and Summaries. I don't think I'd use them enough to justify $9.99/month for them since I don't heavily use AI anyway.

    The Sermon Assistant features I wouldn't use.

    I looked over the 430+ book list.

    I own over 95% of the books. The rest I'd probably never use.

    Even the overall book list I'm not super-impressed with. Logos Libraries are a better value.

    So far still not a fan of this at all.

    Dr. Nathan Parker

  • Nathan Parker
    Nathan Parker Member Posts: 751 ✭✭

    I'm always slow on the uptake of these things. If you choose not to subscribe does that mean you will never receive updates or new features to your Logos software?  Or does that mean you will receive the updates and/or new features at a later date than subscribers yet at a predetermined price? I'm unclear on what the options are for keeping my investment up to date. Thanks! 

    They made it easier to download the basic free app/engine a while back, so it looks like moving forward, we'll all get free bug fixes and minor tweaks, but no major new features or updates to major features unless we subscribe. Bye bye Feature Set Upgrades, which would be super-sad.

    Dr. Nathan Parker

  • Nick Mueller
    Nick Mueller Member, Logos Employee Posts: 92

    I just installed 33 beta 1, it still says Early Access not Pro. I guess it will come later in the beta versions...

    Correct, the changes just missed the first beta, but you should see it in an upcoming v33 beta.