BSHandbook now on iTunes

[shortridge 184]

I don't have one of those little doohickies, but this does seem pretty cool. From Scoutstuff:

 

The 12th edition of the BSA Handbook is now available on Apple's iTunes website. This app can be downloaded and used on your iPhone or iTouch. Features include a searchable index, the ability to toggle between a full-page graphic view and a text-only view, and the ability to bookmark and store your favorite sections.

 

In addition to being a reference for the youth of Scouting's second century, this digital version of the 12th edition Boy Scout Handbook also honors the heritage of Scouts who came before. It combines art from the previous editions with modern illustrations, photographs, and information.

 

Visit the iTunes store and download your copy of this app for $9.99 today. Future updates and functionality enhancements are planned. Print versions of the Handbook, including a limited-edition deluxe set, are available on Scoutstuff.org or your local Scout Shop.

[Gunny2862 11]

I do have one, er three, of these doohickies and the limitations I'm reading in the reviews are fairly serious limitations.

In the majority of good applications I use you can zoom in to read content, change from one page to the next without zooming back out, turning the page and then zooming back in to read the content. In this edition you cannot, nor can you take advantage of the iPhones landscape view to see the text in a more cohesive form.

 

I know BSA is going to make their money but in this format it is overpriced.

 

Unless you can make notes in the digital book, have those notes backed up when you sync, and track advancement in this format it IS overpriced. If it's only usable as a reference I might go $5 for it but think the $9.99 is a bit high. I'll probably just buy another handbook.

[Apache Bob 10]

So what you are saying Gunny2862 is that if a Scout downloads it that he can not have it signed off as he does his requirements. Correct?

[Gunny2862 11]

No,

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I didn't say that, because I didn't purchase it and try the functionality for that, what I posited was that if those functions were not there that I definitely didn't want it other than possibly as a reference at a lower price.

[OneHour 11]

Actually it works very well with the new mini requirement booklet (~$5). The requirement can be signed off on this mini booklet. All that it has are the requirements listed for each rank in a spiral bound booklet that's about 3"x4" (fits perfectly in my back pocket). With the new book or old, the scouts can keep the handbook while I pick up these mini booklets and record the advancement into TroopMaster.

 

1Hour

 

ps: I have 5 of these doohickies at home. One nano for each of my 3 boys, 1 for the wife and 1 for me.

[Eamonn 61]

"Hey Bobby, put that cell phone away!"

"But"

"No buts about it! You know we don't allow cell phones or electronic devices."

"It's not a cell phone. It's my new smart phone!"

"Don't you Smart Phone me! It's a doohickey!"

But Skip I was just reading my Scout Handbook!"

Eamonn.

[BadenP 93]

Maybe National is hoping that all the computer nerds they want to recruit into scouting will read the handbook online because it's doubtful they would ever buy a paper handbook, not technical enough for them, lol.(This message has been edited by BadenP)

[Eagle92 110]

"But Skip I was just reading my Scout Handbook!"

 

 

MAN it's been a while since I heara d the term "Skip" in reference to a SM.