Because you are reading this website, chances are you have already decided to make the iPhone your smartphone of choice, but many attorneys are currently trying to decide whether to get an iPhone or some other device running operating systems such as Android, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Windows Mobile 7. BlackBerry was long the traditional platform of choice for attorneys, but those looking to upgrade seem to be largely moving to the iPhone or Android. Why choose one over the other?
That is the topic of the latest Lawyer2Lawyer podcast, the excellent, flagship podcast on the Legal Talk Network. The hosts are attorneys Bob Ambrogi (a Boston attorney who publishes the LawSites blog) and J. Craig Williams (an attorney in the Irvine, CA office of the Sedgwick law firm who publishes the May it Please the Court blog). Ambrogi and Williams invited me to “defend” the iPhone and St. Petersburg, FL attorney Rick Georges of the great FutureLawyer blog to “defend” the Android operating system. Georges and I are passionate about our platforms of choice so the podcast got a little heated (and I fear that Ambrogi and Williams had trouble getting a word in at times!), but it was a great discussion. Unfortunately, we only scratched the surface; there was so much more that we could have mentioned with more time, but this is just a 30 minute podcast.
Even if you are not trying to decide between iPhone and Android, you will enjoy listening to this podcast. It is always interesting to learn about the technology that other attorneys love to use. For example, Georges brags about the fast, new LTE network on his Android phone — although he doesn’t like how much it reduces battery life. Tim Cook of Apple has suggested that the first generation LTE chips are not desirable because they consume too much battery life and require a very large phone to fit a large antenna. But better chips will come along, and I look forward to seeing LTE come to the iPhone when the technology is ready.
If you want to listen to the podcast using your web browser (including Safari on the iPad), you can click here for the page on the Lawyer2Lawyer website devoted to the episode entitled Battle of the Smartphones: iPhone v. Android. Or you can download this episode of Lawyer2Lawyer (and subscribe to Lawyer2Lawyer) for free on iTunes by clicking here: 
By the way, if this topic interests you, then I would love to see you at the ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago in a few weeks. On April 13th, I’ll be on the panel for the presentation entitled 2001 Smartphone Shootout, where we will discuss the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.
I listened to the entire podcast today at lunch. I like both of your blogs. I have devices with iOS and Android. I have friends, not many lawyers, who use both OS. I liked the podcast but I disliked the frequent confusion or comparison between hardware and the OS. Batteries, kickstands, memory, speed, etc. are hardware features. UI, apps, multi-tasking are OS features. Replay the podcast and you’ll see what I mean.
My main objection to Rick’s argument is his newly adopted “it’s your preference” chant. Horse hockey. For years Rick has been a vociferous Android OS advocate. His dislike of most things Apple is a quaint but humorous part of his blog. When he got away from the “it’s your preference” mantra, Rick made the time worn points about closed OS, batteries, memory and you competently rebutted them with I have found to be exactly my experiences.
The series of iPhones made by Apple have been revolutionary devices involving both hardware and an OS that have been the standard in the industry. Android and various devices using that OS (especially those made by HTC) have been competently made copycats. The iPhone copied nothing. The seminal iPhone was a great departure from the then existing Palm and Blackberry OS. When Apple went SDK the next year, the OS expanded exponentially. Apple’s timing was historic and everyone has been playing catch up ever since. It is not a matter of preference. The iPhone is the standard bearer. Developers are making amazing amounts of money in a dour economy. I have adapted parts of my life and law practice to the iPhone because it has measurably changed it for the better. Any perceived limitations in hardware and the OS are trivial in comparison to the benefits gained from its use at work and at play. An Android device can do that also but it’s second rate and second place. It’s the bridesmaid to the bride.
And don’t get me started on the iPad. Honeycomb has less than 100 apps available. Last thing I heard there were 66,000 apps for the iPad. That’s a reflection of the market.
Timing is everything. The new Palm OS appears to be great and the hardware state of the art. The UI looks nicer than Android and the way the devices sync with each other is something Apple has missed. Nothing about it seems to be as revolutionary as iOS was at its inauguration. Unfortunately, it will likely fail due to delays in
development and marketing more than anything else.
You and Rick should do it again sometime.
The whole open/closed argument is so overused. I would love to find out how how ridiculously small the percentage of people is who actually utilize Android in a way that makes it lucrative over iOS and its closed system. Not to mention that when it comes to tablets, when was the last time that you heard the NY Times, Economist, the Journal, Wired, Reuters, TIME, Popular Science… you get the point… say the line “we are really embracing Android and their open OS and are hoping it will save our dying business model”?