Please don't cripple the Logos Free Edition

I am a little disappointed because I have been a fan of Logos for sometime. I encourage friends and family to try Logos because I love it. Some have purchased Logos in the past, some have subscribed, but others are still unsure about switching to a digital Bible study app. Some friends have other Bible apps but Logos seems intimidating and too expensive. They need a foot in the door.
The recent feature in V49 to share a Study Assistant chat with others (even if they don't have a Logos account) will encourage some to subscribe in time :)
But, I'd like to discuss the importance of maintaining a functional Free Logos Edition. There are many study tools out there on the free market, but none with the features of Logos and none with the immense resources available in Logos. However, potential new users and subscribers simply aren't aware of these advantages. They need a good reason to make this their #1 go-to app on their devices, and once they try it they may subscribe.
Many just want a reliable app that allows them to read their Bible, take notes, look up some keywords in a dictionary, and reference some study notes and related commentaries.
My concern is that Logos continues to cripple the Free Edition. The Psalms Explorer was removed last year, and recently, the New Nave's Topical Bible has been removed from the Free Edition. It now wants my wife and two others to pay $20 for it. Will there be a free topical Bible/concordance replacement? The NIV 2011 is gone too as is the NASB 1995, and even the Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible. We can do better than this!
Just about all the free Bible apps I know of offer quite a handful of the most common Bible translations, but the Logos Free Edition only has 5: ASV, CSB, ESV, KJV, and LEB.
At the very least, I think it is a worthwhile good-will gesture for some who simply can't subscribe to Logos as well as others who may need a compelling reason to make space on their devices to give it a try.

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Comments

GaoLu

I dunno. It's all about money, man. Not sure, but if my stock portfolio includes whoever bought out Logos, I'm gonna get rich. MMmmm… Smell of fresh money.

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1397459#Comment_1397459

Hard to figure:

The claim for subscription (at the time) was money for more-Logos!! 'Users' will get more (compared to the bad ole days, pre-subscription).

Now, 'we' see reduced book development, sell-offs, bits and pieces of app fill-in, and an AI, this AM, shouldn't be trusted (use when you already know the answer).

Mainly the book development concerns me (not the publisher firehose). Loss of expertise.

Saay

It can't be just about the money. I understand it is a business and employees need to get paid, and there are many intrinsic costs of running a business. However, even grocery stores know the benefits of a loss leader; even users of the Free Edition of Logos can buy books from the store. They might also decide to upgrade if they enjoy using it.
I used to see Logos telling us how many free books they've given away. Perhaps it would seem to be bragging so in keeping with Jesus' teaching in Mt 6:1-4 about not allowing your left hand to know what your right hand is giving and to give in secret, perhaps they don't advertise; but, there are two compelling reasons for the Free Edition. The other is for those who can't afford it (including students & teenagers) as well as adults who are new "exploring" believers.

Saay

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1397460#Comment_1397460

You mentioned concerns about "reduced book development". I'm curious, where do you get that data?

I am sure there will be decreases in reading as many who were off work and stuck at home during the pandemic were able to read more. That is a blip.

Things may settle down, but I know that books will decline over time because: (a) New generations have too much to do and many have less patience to read books—for many it's far easier and more engaging to watch a movie or TV series; (b) It takes too long to write and publish a book, and things change so quickly now; (c) Journal/magazine/blog articles are easier to write, read, and digest, and they are often more attune to the times; (d) E-book giants like Kindle and Kobo are short-circuiting the publishing business making it easy to bypass publishing houses.

Admittedly, there is a lot of junk being published and a lot of duplication. I'm sure more than a third of the books you've read have few new ideas or worthwhile things to share.

Even if books diminish, Logos can still sell magazines and journals ;)

DMB

"You mentioned concerns about "reduced book development". I'm curious, where do you get that data?"

Can we safely assume you're not waiting for various promised volumes? And staff explanations as to why?

John

@GaoLu if my stock portfolio includes whoever bought out Logos

Its private equity. We aren’t invited.

GaoLu

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1397491#Comment_1397491

Tongue in cheek.

Saay

We can only pray (and we should pray!) that people at Faithlife/Logos and executives at Cove Hill Partners are carefully being responsible in managing this ministry… and, yes, it is a ministry as it is serving God's people.

Brittany Correa

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1397545#Comment_1397545

They should know that it's the right thing to do anyway, and, let's be honest, they probably do. It's not anything to pray about any more than it's anything to debate.

Brittany Correa

https://community.logos.com/discussion/256793/please-don-039-t-cripple-the-logos-free-edition

They took away the Psalms Explorer? Hey, I got Silver! They shouldn't punish us for not giving them steady cash flow. On the other hand, I've found that excepting the support for language study, which is on the very highest tier, it's not worth paying like that anyway. if you're self-motivated and self-sufficient, things like that study assistant tool won't have much use for you and will feel like an intrusion. for someone with both motivation and that skill, it just becomes your being tempted to hand over money, just make everything go buy more quickly and easily and get done right away, but the more you do yourself, the more of you you'll find will come through in both

Saay

@Brittany Correa, no need to panic. Psalms Explorer should still be available in your Logos but it is no longer in the Free Edition. If you have a legacy Silver Edition it should be there.
I will agree with most of what you said, but I will also say that I find it an interesting way to learn and dig deeper by "chatting with your resources" in Study Assistant.
I see it like having a conversation with a room full of the top theologians and Bible scholars where I can ask anything I want, from all possible angles and perspectives! 😁
Of course, we can't always ask all of them at once or it will be a struggle to parse out the responses, so I definitely appreciate Logos adding the option to limit my requests by collections, types, series, or individual books.
I can even limit by author using the search term: "author:John Walton", so I can ask questions like: "What does Walton have to say about ancient Near Eastern contributions in the book of Genesis?"
I find Study Assistant to be a game-changer, but it only opens the door to deeper study. AI summaries will never be as rich as reading the text yourself!

Brittany Correa

Yeah, I know, but I can still do most of the searching myself; most of the use case for me is getting answers regarding denominational perspectives on different topics a whole lot faster.

For that matter, that would go even further without the subscription, provided sufficient denominational library support, which also seems to be waning.