The Bible Society of South Africa has entered the e-book market with the publication of a number of e-Bibles.

About 550 years ago, Johannes Gutenberg introduced the world to the art of printing by printing a Bible.  Digital developments over the past few years have lead to e-books worldwide becoming the number one choice of millions of people for reading books and storing information.

This trend has increased notably in South Africa as well.  More and more South Africans now own not only a computer, but also one or other device on which they are able to read e-books.  This includes a variety of e-readers, smart phones and tablets.

The e-Bible is an electronic version of the existing printed Bible.  The Bible Society’s Bibles are available in the so-called epub format and they can be downloaded to a computer or any other device which supports this specific format.

Part of the Bible Society’s mission is to ensure that the Bible is available in suitable formats which includes e-Bibles.  “The Bible Society tries to keep up with new developments. Just as it is important for us to meet the needs of readers who prefer the printed Bible, it is also important that we make the Bible available to those who increasingly prefer their reading material electronically,” says Rev Gerrit Kritzinger, Chief Executive Officer of the Bible Society.

E-Bibles can be downloaded in seven South African languages (Afrikaans, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Tsonga, Tswana, Xhosa and Zulu) at the online bookshop www.kalahari.net  for R68,95 each.

~ 26 May 2011 ~