Earlier this week, I posted a review of the free U.S. Code app by FSU Law Professor Shawn Bayern. That app contains the complete "official" U.S. Code, but a commenter correctly pointed out that this is not the latest version of the law. As explained to me by Prof. Bayern, the official version is only updated every year or two and doesn't contain changes to the law since then, which is the reason that people pay big bucks to services like West and Lexis for the USCA and USCS which are constantly updated as new public laws are enacted. I posted an important update to my post yesterday that addresses this issue, and so if you read the original post, I encourage you to go back and read the update.
This highlights a potential important advantage of the paid versions of U.S. Code apps versus the free version that Prof. Bayern created. Developers of paid apps have a monetary incentive to try to keep their versions up to date as new laws are enacted. For example, iPhone app developer Cliff Maier told me: "I believe all my USC apps are not the 'official' text. In other words, I've gone and updated all of them at least once to incorporate the various changes that are found in 121-123 Stat. In many cases I've done this multiple times. The better-selling apps and the apps that I use myself are up-to-date as of 12/31/2009."
The idea that you want to make sure you are relying on the current version of the law is certainly nothing new. Just yesterday, I found myself thumbing through a softcover version of Louisiana federal court rules only to discover that it didn't contain the new rules on counting days that accompanied the revisions to the Fed. R. Civ. Pro. in late 2009. Fortunately, I quickly realized the error and jumped on the court's website, which contained the updated rules. If you are using an iPhone app to look up the law, pay attention to how recently the app has been updated so that you can be sure that you are looking at the latest law.
In addition to thinking about updates to statutory law this week, I also ran across the following iPhone-related items that may be of interest to you:
- The iPad is not even out yet, but we already have a website devoted to the use of the iPad by lawyers, a site called Tablet Legal. The site was created by Portland, Oregon business attorney Josh Barrett, and even though it was just started on January 30, 2009, it already contains quite a few interesting posts. I actually tried to register the domain iPadJD.com the day that Apple announced the iPad but someone in Calgary, Canada beat me to it by about an hour. Hopefully, that domain will be put to good use, and as iPhone/iPad/iPod touch interest among lawyers grows, I hope we will see even more lawyers sharing their reviews, tips and experiences.
- iPhone Alley reports on a Bnet interview with Bill Gates in which he says that the iPad would be great if it just had a stylus and a physical keyboard. With all due respect to Mr. Gates, I think he is missing the point.
- Google just announced Google Buzz, its attempt to compete with Twitter and Facebook. iPhone Alley reports that it has a great iPhone interface.
- I recently wrote about law firms creating their own iPhone apps. Lawyer and blawg guru Kevin O'Keefe makes the case for why law firms should not create iPhone apps.
- German statesman Otto von Bismarck reportedly said in the 1800s that those who love the law and sausage have never seen how either are made. According to a post on kottke.org, as linked to by John Gruber on Daring Fireball, lawyers using iPhones in this cold weather may want to reach for a sausage. It appears that sales of snack sausages are on the rise in South Korea because people use them as a stylus to operate an iPhone without having to remove gloves.
- Are you looking at something confidential on your iPhone and don't want wandering eyes from the person in the airplane or subway seat next to you? The iPhone Blog reports on (and sells) NLU Privacy ScreenGuardz for $19.99 that offer 4-way security (up, down, left and right) but are "crystal clear" when viewed straight on.
- If you are looking to get some new headphones for your iPhone, Art of the iPhone has complied a list of the 20 best headphones designed to work with the iPhone.
- AppleInsider reports that, according to ComScore, Apple's iPhone now has 25% of the U.S. smartphone market. RIM, Microsoft and Palm all lost marketshare, with RIM now at 42%, Microsoft at 18% and Palm at 6%. Google has 5% and is the only company other than Apple to be growing in market share, according to this study.
- And finally, as I first saw reported on iPhone Savior, someone on Etsy was selling handmade felt keychains with iPhone icons on them (plus one Mac OS icon). Unfortunately, the seller is now sold out, but while you wait for more to be made you can admire this picture of what they looked like:
