The Daylight Computer
I used to love technology. For every new device that came out, I religiously watched tech review videos with a deep desire (not a need 😆) to buy and experience the latest creation.
“I was born for tech” is a sentence that resonates deep within my soul.
But over the last few years, I’ve become bored/irritated with technology. It’s mostly notifications and being constantly connected. I’m moving more into the camp of fewer things, simpler life and living in the moment. Maybe it’s my age. 😂
I used to buy a new iPhone every year and was quite proud of it. So fancy. Since the iPhone 10 was released, I sometimes skipped a few generations because I take good care of my iPhones and simply because the upgrades are not meaningful anymore.
This was again evident when I recently bought the new iPad Pro M4 11-inch with the Apple Pencil Pro. My previous iPad is the 2018 iPad Air, which is six years old, and there is a slight, tangible difference between the 2018 Air and 2024 Pro! Don’t get me wrong—the new iPad feels, looks, and performs amazingly. It is state-of-the-art but in the same breath performs the same functions as my old Air. Nothing moves the needle in terms of the wow and awe factor. Or changes how I work. Everything just feels — slightly better.
Then, the Daylight Computer launched a couple of weeks ago.
The Daylight Computer is basically a Kindle on Steroids. Imagine a 60 frames per second fast Kindle Tablet with a toned-down version of Android as the platform. There is an excellent interview on Youtube with the founder Anjan Katta if you are curious.
When I had the idea for Pencil Bible in 2020, I had a similar vision or idea as Anjan had with the daylight computer—just for the Bible. That’s why I wanted to make an iPad App and later one for Android. I can’t believe it’s been over a four-year journey. Anjan started in 2018. Crazy!
For the first time in a while, technology again inspires me. I immediately pre-ordered a Dayligth tablet, and hopefully, when it launches at the end of the year, we will have an Android version of Pencil Bible ready, and I can use it on the Daylight Computer! 💪
This will be the intersection of perfection in electronic Bible Reading for me.
A full-screen, customizable Bible that works in daylight (no distractions) and allows users to make annotations freely with the feeling of actual paper and pencil.
I‘m very excited and inspired by this.
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Some Pencil Bible News
We recently launched a new Update with a few nice little touches:
- Dark Mode looks super cool. I’m even using PB in Dark Mode now. I never did before.
- The Header, when hidden, allows full-screen use of the Bible (only if you create a new Bible — this does not work on previously created Bibles). This looks nice in full-screen mode and brings us closer to the vision of full-screen distraction-free reading. It's such a minor feature, but it looks perfect.
- Toolbar updates. Shapes are remembered, and we removed the shadow.
- We are busy adding the NKJV. I know there are a lot of readers waiting for this translation.
The New Engine!
Margelo and Christian are working hard to build a new engine for Pencil Bible. “Engine” is an analogy we use. What it means is we want the app to perform like a performance vehicle (think supercar), but we are using a tractor engine at the moment, which doesn’t allow us to add new tools or refine for speed easily. Christian (the creator of SKIA) is now making a brand-new engine that Matt will install. We are calling it the “proverb-engine”.
It comes with new and better tools (like crayon, pencil, marker, Move, Copy, Paste and Text), and big new features will be ZOOM support and consistent SPEED with near ZERO lag. We will no longer have a performance drop, flashing or waiting for things to load. The ZOOM support will enable us to use the app on any device.
The New Engine was written to allow us to create new tools quickly and easily. For example, let’s say there is a demand for a water paintbrush. The new engine will enable us to add one without extra coding or changing the main CANVAS code. It would be as simple as plugging in a new set of codes.
The new engine costs a lot of money, but revenue is enough to cover Margelo’s costs, for which I’m very grateful.
I can’t wait for it to launch. I’m feeling like a kid on Christmas, but like all good quality things, “It will take some time.”
Please give it a couple of months. We are now 1.7 months into the development of the new engine. I guess (very rough estimate) — it will be at least another two months before you have it in your hands.
Influencers
I have a three-month contract with Craig Brown—an influencer with a show on all social channels called “Bible Time”—to advertise Pencil Bible. Here is a link to the first one on Instagram.
It did not result in an immediate jump in revenue, but a few days after the ad, I saw an uptick in downloads and purchases.
Cool story—when I needed to make a contract for us (an influencer contract), I used AI (Chat GPT). I described the situation, and in a few seconds, I had a legitimate contract that I could fine-tune. It even suggested how many times posts should be uploaded, quality control, and some things I never would have thought of. It was a WOW moment for me.
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That’s all the stories I have at the moment. Thanks for reading and supporting Pencil Bible. Please let me know if there are any issues or if you haven’t left a review on the Apple Store. Please be so kind. It helps so much with rankings => more revenue => faster development.
Erin
