Earlier this week, I wrote about the ABA's new survey on lawyer smartphone use. In connection with that report, California attorney Monica Bay — who is editor-in-chief of Law Technology News — writes about how Apple was unable to infiltrate law firms with its Macintosh computers but is now doing so with the iPhone and iPad. I agree with her on this. When I started at my law firm in 1994, we were a large law firm that used only Macs, something that was rare at the time and is unheard of today. But by the early 2000s, my firm wanted to use software that was PC only such as document management software, client relationship management software, etc. As a longtime fan of Apple products I was sad to see the Macs and PowerBooks leave, but 10 years later I don't care as much thanks to the iPhone and iPad. Sure, I still use my computer every day in the office, but the real excitement in technology today is in the smartphone and tablet space, and I enjoy being able to use Apple's great products. And looking around my office, I see that there are iOS devices everywhere, so I'm clearly not alone. And now, on to the recent iPhone and iPad news of note:
- Jahna Berry of The Arizona Republic writes about Phoenix attorneys Marc Lamber and James Goodnow of the Fennemore Craig firm who loaned iPads to 20 of their top personal injury clients to make it easier for the attorneys to communicate with their clients, including Skype video chats.
- Apple is involved in lots of high-stakes IP litigation relating to the iPhone, so it needs good lawyers. Dan Levine and Poornima Gupta of Reuters report that B.J. Watrous (formerly deputy general counsel with Hewlett Packard and before that an attorney at DLA Piper) is Apple's new chief intellectual property counsel, taking over for Richard "Chip" Lutton Jr., who is leaving Apple after 10 years.
- People often ask me whether they should get an iPhone from AT&T or Verizon. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and it largely depends on what part of the country you are in. In many areas, you get better coverage with Verizon, but 3G data can be faster on AT&T (plus you can talk on the phone and use data at the same time). Another point of comparison is the price of the data plans, and Art of the iPhone compares the two. Unless you want to use a lot of 3G data, AT&T tends to be cheaper.
- Rob Dean of WalkingOffice writes about remote desktop apps for the iPad. I currently use LogMeIn Ignition, and it is one of the most useful apps on my iPad, making it easy for me to travel without my laptop, but I suspect that many of these apps would work just as well. For example, a few days ago, I got an e-mail from an attorney in Scottsdale, Arizona with a strong recommendation for Splashtap Remote, one of the apps mentioned in Dean's post which is a fraction of the cost of LogMeIn ($2.99 versus $29.99).
- How much money have you spent on content for your iPhone or iPad? Neil Hughes of AppleInsider reports that according to analyst Chris Whitmore with Deutsche Bank, the average iPhone or iPad owner has $100 worth of content.
- Pete Mortensen of Cult of Mac is an iPhone user who spent some time with Android and Windows Phone 7 phones. He writes about how the competition stacks up.
- Zach Honig of Engadget reviews the Kingston Wi-Drive, an external hard drive that talks to your iPhone or iPad using Wi-Fi and provides external storage for movies, photos, etc. He says that the product works well, but says that instead of spending $130 (16GB version) or $175 (32GB version), some people may prefer to spend an extra $100 when they get their next iPhone or iPad to get more built-in storage.
- Attorney and consultant Paul Ungar reviews the Worldox iPad app on Brett Burney's Macs in Law website.
- Tom Kaneshige of CIO writes about the use of iPads at Proskauer Rose.
- Anne Tergesen of the Wall Street Journal writes that many hotels now offer a service where they will take the guest's iPhone and other electronic devices and in exchange provide books and board games, something that the hotels call "digital detox" packages for people who need to take a break from their screens. I can't tell you much more about the article because I stopped reading it in the middle so that I could get back to my Twitter, Facebook, email...
- Philadelphia attorney Michael Payne reviews LeapDoc, an app that allows to to "print" a file on your computer and have it show up as a PDF on your iPhone or iPad. I have the full version of Adobe Acrobat on my computer which includes a virtual PDF printer so I can print any file to that Adobe virtual printer to create a PDF, which I can then transfer to GoodReader on my iPad. But LeapDoc looks like an interesting, alternative solution. Click here for LeapDoc ($4.99):
- And finally, here is a heartwarming story from the Land Down Under. Evonne Barry of the Herald Sun reports that nine-year old Holly Bligh has albinism and nystagmus, conditions which impair her eyesight. She used to have to carry a heavy magnifying glass to class, but thanks to the iPad she can instead now have her teachers scan documents and then she can use the iPad's pinch-to-zoom feature to enlarge text so that she can read it. The article discusses correspondence between Holly's mother and Steve Jobs praising the iPad. I actually suffer from the same two eye conditions (although it sounds like Holly's eyesight is far worse than mine) and I also find that it is often much easier to read documents on an iPad where I can easily zoom in on text. Indeed, I suspect that many of you don't see as well as you did when you were younger, and so perhaps you too can take some inspiration from Holly. Here is a picture of Holly and her iPad taken by Ben Seinnerton of the Herald Sun:
