I’ve recently published many posts discussing iPad styluses, apps that let you write or draw and PDF management apps — all tools that make it easy to create a digital signature on a document. This led a friend of mine who is an attorney to ask me last night about the role of digital signatures in the context of a notary. A high-quality digital signature might even look better than a “real” signature made by a pen on paper. Can a person just sign a document on their iPad and then e-mail the document to a notary?
This is an issue of state law that will vary from state to state. For example, in Louisiana we have something called an “authentic act” which refers to signing a document in the presence of two witnesses and a notary. La C.C. art. 1833. The Louisiana Supreme Court held in Hardin v. Williams, 478 So. 2d 1214 (La. 1985) that it was insufficient to have the notary just outside of the room in which the signing took place even though the notary knew the parties. If being in the next room isn’t enough, I suspect that e-mailing a digital signature to a notary would never work without a change in Louisiana law.
The National Notary Association published an article last year called Personal Appearance In A Digital World in which they take the position that the person signing must always physically appear before the notary so that the notary can see the person, check the ID, etc. The article critiques a Virginia law which apparently allows appearance before a notary via video and audio conferencing. A FAQ on the Commonwealth of Virginia’s website explains: “While the signer must still appear personally before an Electronic Notary, beginning July 1, 2012, an approved Virginia Electronic Notary may perform acts online using audio-video conference technology.”
New Orleans attorney Ernest Svenson, who publishes the PDF for Lawyers website, has written about digital signatures several times. For example, late last year he mentioned the new Adobe EchoSign eSignature app for the iPhone and iPad that is supposed to allow the creation of legally-binding electronic signatures. But I’m not sure what that has to do with notarial requirements.
As you can tell, this is an area of law that I know very little about, and I would never pretend that the links that I included above are representative of the full — and I’m sure emerging — body of law in this area. I am interested to learn more, so if any iPhone J.D. readers would like to share what they know on this issue, I encourage you to post a comment. In the meantime, if any of you plan to ask me to serve as a notary, I encourage you to bring your iPads, styluses and drawing apps so that we chat about the latest and greatest technology … but when it comes time to sign the document, I’m going to hand you a real pen.
A few weeks ago, I reviewed the Wacom Bamboo Stylus for iPad and concluded that it was my favorite stylus for writing notes on an iPad, well worth the almost $30 that I paid for it on Amazon even though you can buy good styluses for much cheaper. After I posted that review, Wacom sent me free sample of the Wacom Bamboo Stylus duo for iPad. The advertised difference with the “duo” version of the Bamboo Stylus is that it also includes a ballpoint pen. I predicted in my review of the Bamboo Stylus that the duo would probably not appeal to me because I am not a big fan of the ballpoint pens that are typically included with a stylus. I was correct; I’m not a big fan of this pen either, although as noted below your personal preferences may differ from mine. But I do see some other advantages of the duo, especially the length, that might tempt you to spend the extra $10 and purchase the Bamboo Stylus duo instead of the regular Bamboo Stylus.
Design
The Bamboo Stylus duo, like the original Bamboo Stylus (which Wacom is now calling the “Bamboo Stylus solo“) has a fantastic weight and feels great in your hand. Unlike many other styluses which feel cheap, the Bamboo Stylus line has the appearance and build of a premium product.
The duo only comes in black, unlike the original version that is available in six colors.
The tip
The key advantage of this stylus is the tip. As I noted in my review of the original version, the Bamboo Stylus duo has a fantastic tip for taking notes on an iPad using an app such as GoodNotes because it feels great on the iPad screen but it is smaller than the tips on most other styluses which provides the sensation of being more precise. To be fair, I should note that apparently not everyone agrees with me. Georgia of the iMore website recently reviewed four styluses and wrote that the Wacom Bamboo Stylus tip was a “disappointment” because she found it “completely mushy” and said that it provided “almost no push-back without excessive pressure.” I strongly disagree. I like the feel of the tip against the iPad screen and I’ve never felt that I had to apply excessive pressure. For another viewpoint, Ellis Hamburger of The Verge recently posted an extensive review of all of the top styluses, and wrote that the Bamboo Stylus is the “best stylus you can buy for your iPad” adding that the “tip of the Bamboo, which is smaller in diameter than its peers, is the killer feature here.” As for the tip being mushy, he wrote: “Like the rest of the rubber tips I tested, this one’s mushy and doesn’t provide the hardness I’m looking for from a writing utensil. But ultimately, it’s the most precise and more importantly the most predictable stylus of the group.”
If you don’t think that a rubber tip is for you, I strongly encourage you to check out the fantastic BoxWave EverTouch Capactive Stylus that I reviewed earlier this month. But if you are okay with a rubber tip and want something precise, you’ll love the tip that is on the original Bamboo Stylus and the Bamboo Stylus duo.
The pen
The distinguishing feature of the Bamboo Stylus duo is the included pen. Simply remove the cap and the pen is exposed.
You can place the cap on the stylus end of the pen and I doubt that anyone else would be able to tell that you are even using a stylus.
If you are going to include a pen in a stylus, this is a great way to do it. My gripe with the pen is that I don’t like the way that the ink looks. I find the point to be too fine and I find the ink to be too light. I almost feel like I am writing with a pencil.
To be fair, this may simply reflect my personal bias. I’m not a big fan of ballpoint pens in general. I prefer the very dark blacks that you get with a rollerball pen. I often use a Mont Blanc rollerball pen that I received as a gift when I graduated law school in 1994, or else I will use something far less expensive but still excellent such as a Sanford uni-ball MICRO or a Pilot Precise v7 Rolling Ball. But even if you like ballpoint pens, your writing with the duo will be thinner and lighter than you might be used to. Here is a sample of the Bamboo Stylus duo versus a more standard ballpoint pen (the Kensington Virtuoso Touch Screen Stylus with Pen) and two rollerball pens:
But now that I have complained that this is not my favorite pen, I have to admit that it often doesn’t matter what kind of pen you have, you just need something to jot a quick note. With a normal iPad stylus, you are out of luck. With a product like the Bamboo Stylus duo, you have the pen in case you need it. Nevertheless, if the pen was the only distinguishing feature, I’d probably just get the regular Bamboo Stylus and use the $10 I saved to buy a bunch of inexpensive pens and keep them at my desk, in my briefcase, at home, etc.
Length
However, the pen is only one difference. A key difference between the regular Bamboo Stylus and the Bamboo Stylus duo is that the duo is almost a half an inch longer. The regular Bamboo Stylus is 120 mm (about 4.75″), and as I noted in my original review, in my opinion that is just barely long enough to be comfortable to use. The duo is 131 mm when used as a stylus (about 5.16″) which is much closer to the length of a normal pen (around 5.25″). The following picture shows the regular Bamboo Stylus (top), the Bamboo Stylus duo (middle) and the Kensington Virtuoso Stylus for Tablet (bottom), another excellent stylus.
As I have been testing out the duo, I’ve found that I prefer the longer length, so much so that it is a reason that it does make the duo worth the extra $10. It just feels more like I am using a real pen. Strangely, I don’t see that Wacom even advertises the length of the duo as an advantage.
Better wear and tear?
I see one other possible advantage of the duo over the regular version, but I’ll admit that I am speculating here. I noted in my original review that some people complain that the tip on the Bamboo Stylus is too delicate and can tear with use. Because of where the (removable) clip is located on the original Bamboo Stylus, you are likely to apply pressure at the same point of the tip every time you use the stylus. The clip sits in a groove so it always stays in the same spot. But with the duo, because the entire top is removable and the clip is part of the top, the clip can rotate and over time wil be in many different positions on the stylus. Even if you always hold the duo the same way in your hand with the clip against your hand, you’ll be applying pressure to different parts of the tip over time. My theory is that this will better distribute the wear and tear around all points of the nib on the tip so that the tip itself will last longer. I don’t plan to conduct an experiment to test this hypothesis to see if it holds up, but it seems logical to me.
Conclusion
People will have different opinions on styluses, but in my opinion, the Wacom Bamboo Stylus line is the best stylus you can use with an iPad if you are planning to take notes in a meeting, in court, etc. using an app such as GoodNotes. The weight and finish of the stylus feels great in your hand and the narrow tip is fantastic. [UPDATE: I see that Serenity Caldwell of TechHive and Macworld published an article today in which she also names the duo the best stylus for writing.] The original version of the stylus, now called the Bamboo Stylus Solo, costs about $30. That is a lot of money to pay for a stylus, but I think it is worth it. If you spend an extra $10 for the $40 duo version of the stylus, you get the pen (which I don’t particularly like, but perhaps you will, and it could be handy in a pinch) and you get a longer stylus (which I love) that might even hold up longer before you need to replace the tip (although who knows). Either way, you’ll have an excellent stylus that works great with the iPad.
[UPDATE 8/11/13: There are a lot of great styluses for the iPad, but after over a year of using this stylus and many others, the Bamboo Stylus duo remains my favorite.]
My sister got married last weekend and with all of the family activitiy, there was no time for me to publish In the news last Friday. Thus, in this 150th edition of In the news — didn’t we just have the 100th edition? — I am highlighting some interesting stories from the last two weeks.
This week was the LegalTech West Coast conference. According to an article by Monica Bay of the Law Technology News, there was a lot of focus on the iPad. (Sounds similar to what I saw at ABA TECHSHOW earlier this year.)
Florida attorney Katie Floyd writes about how to save an iPhone after you spill water on it.
Tampa, Florida attorney Jenny Byars Gribbin of Fowler White Boggs had an idea for an iPhone app to manage lists for busy parents. The result is the app Mothern Belle, and Gribbin was profiled by Margaret Cashill of the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
Carol Gerber of Attorney at Work compiles iPad shortcuts useful to lawyers.
Massachusetts lawyer Robert Ambrogi reports that the North Carolina Bar switched from Casemaker to Fastcase, in part because Fastcase has a great iPad app.
Adam Lashinsky wrote a great cover article for Fortune on how Tim Cook is changing Apple. It’s a good read.
Joshua Topolsky of The Verge wrote an interesting article for the Washington Post about how so few companies outside of Apple are coming up with innovative designs for their tech products.
I often write about people using Find My iPhone to locate a stolen iPhone, but Alex Heath of Cult of Mac writes about a woman who used the iCloud Photo Stream service to do the same thing after her iPhone was stolen on a Disney cruise. The iPhone thief was an employee of the cruise ship and he used the iPhone to take pictures of himself and his friends — which were promptly uploaded to the woman’s iCloud and appeared on her computer. Based on the pictures, the thief was apprehended and was fired.
Ben Worthen of the Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting article about young children using iPads.
Kevin Tofel of GigaOm writes that if you get internet access from cable companies Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications or Time Warner Cable, you’ll soon be able to access a bunch of Wi-Fi spots across the country. Initial access will be in New York, Los Angeles, Tampa, Orlando, and Philadelphia.
Ken Shirriff analyzed what makes up an iPhone charger. It’s more sophisticated than you might think.
David Pogue of the New York Times discusses tracking smartphone data usage.
Pogue also reivewed the Jawbone Big Jambox and the Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker, Bluetooth speakers that work with the iPhone.
Georgia of iMore reviewed several iPad styluses, including the Bamboo Stylus that I like so much. I disagree with several of the opinions in her article (including her take on the Bamboo Stylus), so it is a good read if you are looking for a different perspective from mine.
Borys Kit of The HollyWood Reporter reports that Aaron Sorkin (of The West Wing and The Social Network fame) is writing the screenplay based on the Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs. I’ve seen it reported elsewhere that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will a consultant on the film.
Harry McCracken of Time compares the two upcoming movies on Steve Jobs.
Geri Drelling of LawyerTechReview writes about one judge’s use of an iPad in court.
Simon Sage of iMore recommends his favorite free iPad games.
And finally, there was a short but very nice tribute to Steve Jobs at the recent 16th Annual Webby Awards with tributes from Presidents Clinton and Obama, Bono and others. It is worth watching, and you can watch it in this clip from CNET:
As the school year comes to an end and Summer is about to start, I find myself looking forward to water activities with my kids: swimming pools, the beach, water slides, etc. Activities that involve water are usually not good for the iPhone, but earlier this month at the CTIA Wireless convention in New Orleans, I saw two products that make your iPhone waterproof. I tried out both products with the aid of company representatives working at booths so I did not get a chance to do “real world” tests, but both booths featured iPhones being dunked into aquariums over and over again and, as far as I could tell, the iPhones held up great.
driSuit
The first product I saw was the driSuit. This is a case made for the iPhone 4 and 4s. You place your iPhone inside the case, close two locks to seal it, and then the iPhone is waterproof. Here is a picture from the website:
And here is a picture I took at CTIA of iPhones working while they are submerged in an aquarium:
The screen portion of the case actually has two membrames with a gel in between. You need to touch the screen a little bit harder than normal for the gel to make contact with the screen, but it does work quite well. With the driSuit, you can use your iPhone while you are skiing, snowboarding, fishing, snorkling, etc. without fear that water will damage your iPhone. The iPhone camera still works even when it is in the case.
There is a small space behind the iPhone where you can store a credit card, room key, driver’s license, etc.
The case costs $60. You can get a wrist band that also floats for $10 and the company sells waterproof headphones for $20.
DryCASE
A similar product that I saw at CTIA is the DryCASE. Unlike the driSuite which is made specifically for the iPhone 4/4S, the DryCASE is a bag that comes in different sizes and can hold lots of different devices, including the iPhone and the iPad. The company has been making waterproof protection for casts and prosthetic limbs for the last 13 years, and decided to use the same technology to protect iPhones.
To use the DryCASE you place your iPhone or other item inside of it, plug in the included headphone jack, seal the top, and then use the included one-way pump to remove the air. This creates a vacuum. You can then plug a pair of headphones into the port on the outside of the bag (or use waterproof headphones sold by the company). You can use the iPhone touchscreen or camera through the bag, and the company has tested it to depths of 100 feet.
As you can see from the above picture, the iPhone at the right had been underwater for 2 hours and 41 minutes when I saw it. They kept the iPhone in that bag throughout the CTIA show for several days and it continued to work underwater.
The case has a black band on the back of it so you can attach the DryCASE to your arm.
I was told by company representatives that your iPhone doesn’t work well as a phone when it is in a case, although you can use the speaker phone in a pinch. However, if you plug in a pair of headphones with a microphone you can use the phone that way.
The retail price is $39.99. You can buy it for less at Amazon, but DryCASE tells me that if you instead get it from a retailer or from the DryCASE website you get a one year warranty.
Both of these products look like great solutions for bringing your iPhone with you to the beach, the pool, etc. The driSuite seems to provide a little more protection and is a great fit for the iPhone 4/4S, but the DryCASE is half the price and very versatile because it can be used with devices of multiple sizes.
Just over a year ago, when I still used the first generation of the iPad, I reviewed an innovative product called the FreeOneHand, a device that fit around the four corners of the iPad and provided a handle so that you can hold the iPad in one hand. It quickly became one of my favorite accessories for my iPad, and I continued to use it with the iPad 2, even though it wasn’t a perfect fit (for example, it covered up the camera). There is now a second generation version of the FreeOneHand that works with both the iPad 2 and the third generation iPad. It combines everything that I loved about the original FreeOneHand with a design that better fits the newer iPads and with a new collapsible handle. Ever since the company sent me a free review unit of this $40 product a few weeks ago I have rarely removed it from my third generation iPad. I love this iPad accessory.
The company sent me the white version of the new FreeOneHand, but it also comes in black. Since I use a black version of the iPad, that is the version I would have selected if I had purchased this item myself, but the white version looks fine too.
Like the original, this version fits around the four corners of the iPad. To use it, you first slide the side of your iPad with the home button into two of the corners, then you snap each of the other two corners around the iPad. Because the iPad 2 and third generation iPads are thinner than the original iPad, the second generation of the FreeOneHand is slightly harder to attach to the iPad, but you get the hang of it quickly.
Once your iPad is in the FreeOneHand, there is a knob on the back of the iPad that you can easily hold with one hand in multiple positions. Holding the iPad by this knob is much easier on your hands than holding the iPad just by the sides. Because less effort is required, you can hold your iPad with just one hand and for much longer before your hand experiences fatigue. If I have a long deposition or brief to read on my iPad, the experience is much better when I can hold my iPad with the FreeOneHand.
There are two primary ways to hold the device, both of which are shown off in these two pictures from the FreeOneHand website that I used with my review of the original unit. The first position is to slide the knob between your fingers. The second position is to put your thumb through the holds and grip the knob. I find myself alternating between both positions.
Here I am using the first position with the new FreeOneHand:
I also like using the FreeOneHand when I am giving a presentation with my iPad or when I am using it in court. The FreeOneHand gives you a much better grip on your iPad so that it is far less likely to slip out of your hand.
The second generation FreeOneHand has cut-outs to accommodate all of the holes and switches on the iPad 2 and third generation iPad, plus a hole for the camera. But the best new feature is the collapsible grip. With a simple push you can make the grip almost completely flat.
My main problem with the first version of the FreeOneHand is that it took up a lot of space when traveling. The collapsible handle solves this problem completely. I now keep my iPad in the FreeOneHand almost all of the time, and when I travel back and forth to work I simply collapse the handle and slide it into the Tom Bihn Ristretto bag that I take back and forth to work every day.
One final improvement in the new FreeOneHand is that the knob itself is more rubbery. Thus, you can use the FreeOneHand to prop up your iPad at an angle on your desk and the more rubbery knob provides enough friction to keep the iPad in place when you tap the screen. (The prior version would slip.)
The new FreeOneHand works with the Apple Smart Cover. I usually remove the Smart Cover completely when I am using the FreeOneHand since it just gets in the way of the FreeOneHand, but I like that I can easily attach the Smart Cover to protect the glass on my iPad when I slip it into a briefcase or the Ristretto.
The FreeOneHand is a fabulous device that makes it much easier to hold your iPad in one hand for an extended period of time. The new collapsible grip is great for when you want to slip your iPad into a briefcase or bag, and allows me to keep the FreeOneHand on my iPad pretty much all the time. If you like to lean back in a chair or a sofa and hold an iPad with one hand, I suspect that you will love the FreeOneHand as much as I do.
It wasn’t long after I started using an iPad that my wife saw how useful it would be to have her own. Earlier this year, I upgraded to the third generation iPad, which meant that we became a three iPad household. Having two children in the house (age four and six) made it easy to decide what to do with the extra iPad. There are lots of high-quality apps designed especially for young children to help with spelling, math, etc. Indeed, my son’s school even has an iPad lab that the children use, and the school has a good list of recommended apps.
Although I only let the kids use the iPad when I am around or at least nearby, I was still nervous about letting them handle an iPad that could be broken with just a single drop on the ground, so I’ve always limited them to using the iPad in one spot on carpet or on a bed. Recently, however, iPad accessory manufacturer X-Doria sent me a free review unit of a product called the Widge. This $40 product is a protective cover and handle for the iPad 2 and third generation iPad that makes the iPad much more safe for kids.
The unit itself is made of foam rubber and is wrapped around the iPad. Once inside, the iPad is very sturdy and won’t come out unless you manually take it out. The website for the product says that it is “squishy.” I wouldn’t go quite that far because it holds its shape well, which I consider a plus. But the substance definitely has some give, making it easy to grip and also providing protection for the iPad if it is hit on a side.
The name “Widge” is a play on the fact that it has a wedge shape. Thus, this case has a built-in stand that props up the iPad at a slight include, perfect for using an app. You can also flip it over and prop up the iPad like a screen for watching a video. Note that you cannot stand up an iPad in a portrait orientation in the Widge, but I saw my son play several games of checkers (a portrait-only game) with the Widge on his lap and he didn’t seem to notice much that the Widge placed the iPad at a slight angle. To the contrary, I think he liked having something around the iPad that made it easier to hold.
Speaking of holding the iPad, the back of the Widge has a built-in handle. This provides an extra grip and makes me feel much less nervous to see my child carrying an iPad.
There are holes at all the right spots so that you can charge the iPad when it is in the Widge and so that you can use the camera and hear the speaker. There is also a hole for the headphone port and the switch on the side. For the volume buttons and the Sleep/Wake button, the Widge covers those buttons but makes it easy to still use them because of indentations in the foam rubber.
Finally, there is something about the shape or color of the Widge that makes the iPad seem more fun. My kids both like using the iPad when it is in the Widge, and I feel more at ease with the extra protection.
If you are looking for a way to make your old iPad 2 more kid-friendly (or if you are letting them use a new third generation iPad), the Widge is a great product.
Dallas attorney Tom Mighell wrote iPad in One Hour for Lawyers, a great introduction to the iPad that I reviewed last year. His follow-up book is iPad Apps in One Hour, a book that describes about 200 apps that are recommended for lawyers who use an iPad. Mighell gave me a free review copy of the soft cover version of the book, but I see that it is also available on the iBookstore. True to its name, you can read this entire book in about an hour, and after doing so you will have a good handle on the apps that you can use to make the most of an iPad in your law practice.
After providing some introductory information on getting and using apps, the book is divided into six sections:
Apps for getting organized and being productive
Documents: creating and organizing them
Apps for the law office
News, reading and reference apps
Utilities
the iPad on the road
In each section, Mighell provides an overview of how you can use an iPad to be more productive and then he describes apps, starting with his recommended apps for each task and then listing other good alternatives. Each app gets a one-paragraph description, and for many apps there is a screenshot to show you what the app looks like.
Although Mighell gave me the paper version of this book to review, I actually recommend that you get the version on the Apple iBookstore. That way, when Mighell describes an app and provides a link, you can just tap the link to get the app on your iPad instead of having to search for the app or type a URL. Also, the iBookstore version of this book is cheaper. The paper version costs $34.95 when you buy it through the ABA, or costs $19.95 if you are a member of the Law Practice Management section. The iBooks version of the book costs $17.99 so you save $2 and can download and can start reading the book almost instantly. Note that this is a traditional iBook; you don’t get the advanced graphics and videos that you get when someone uses the iBooks Author tool, such as the book I reviewed yesterday, Paperless by David Sparks.
iPad Apps in One Hour for Lawyers provides what the title says and is a helpful resource for a lawyer looking for an overview of useful apps.
In January of this year, Apple introduced iBooks Author, software that allows you to create beautiful and sophisticated books for the Apple iBookstore that can be read on an iPad. This powerful software lets authors integrate text, pictures, videos and more. One of the first titles that I have seen that takes advantage of this new publishing system is Paperless, a a $5 book by David Sparks. Sparks is an attorney in Orange County, CA and he is well known for his MacSparky website and the Mac Power Users podcast that he does with Florida attorney Katie Floyd. Sparks also wrote iPad at Work, a book I reviewed earlier this year.
Paperless teaches you how to use Apple technology (the Mac and the iPad) to go paperless. This is a subject that I know a lot about, and when Sparks asked me to edit an early version of the book, I assumed that all I would be doing is checking for typos and offering a few suggestions. Little did I know that reading the book would teach me so much about a topic that I thought I already knew so well. The extensive content (over 26,000 words) is incredibly informative. I don’t even use a Mac at work (I have a Mac at home but use a PC in my office) but I still learned a ton that has already made me more productive working with files on the PC at my desk and I picked up lots of useful tips on making the most of my iPad.
But the words in this book are only half of the story. This book takes advantage of the advanced features of iBooks Author, which means that the book is full of well-designed graphics and helpful videos that walk you through the steps described in the book. It is one thing to read a description of how to do something, but when you watch a video where Sparks walks you through every step of a process, you gain a deep understanding of what you need to do. It almost seems wrong to call Paperless a “book” because it is so much more than just a collection of text in chapters.
After introductory sections that provide an overview on reducing the paper in your life, Sparks gives specific recommendations on how to capture information in a digital format including suggestions on the best hardware and software to use. He then gives tips on creating a process to manage digital files. Another section provides tips on using your paperless documents.
Although Sparks is an attorney, this book is aimed at a general audience. Nevertheless, the law is definitely a field in which you can become more productive by becoming paperless, especially when you have an iPad. I suspect that virtually any lawyer would learn a lot from this book that would make them more productive in their practice.
And finally, I must mention that this book was incredibly pleasent to read. While much of the credit goes to Sparks and his writing style, credit also goes to Apple for making iBooks and the iBooks Author platform so powerful and beautiful. While reading this book, I often felt like I was seeing the future of publishing. This book is the poster child for what great iPad publishing can be — incredible design and interactivity.
By self-authoring and producing this book, Sparks cut out the publisher and thus he can make these books incredibly cheap. It is a steal at $5. The knowledge you will gain from this book will make much more of an impact on your life than the fancy cup of coffee that costs almost as much. And apparently I am not the only one to be excited about this book; Paperless has been in the Top 10 of all paid books on the iBookstore almost since the moment that it came out. It is amusing to see a book about going paperless just a few notches behind the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy that has been dominating the charts. Perhaps best of all, Paperless is just the first in what will be a series of MacSparky Field Guide books. I cannot wait to see what David Sparks publishes next.
I saw several references on the web this week (such as this one) to a letter that Apple sends new employees when they join the company. It contains a nice message that could apply to many other professions, including many law firms: “There’s work and there’s your life’s work. The kind of work that has your fingerprints all over it. The kind of work that you’d never compromise on. That you’d sacrifice a weekend for. You can do that kind of work at Apple. People don’t come here to play it safe. They come here to swim in the deep end. They want their work to add up to something. Something big. Something that couldn’t happen anywhere else. Welcome to Apple.” I hope that you find your own work that satisfying. And now, the news of the week:
New York attorney Niki Black recommends websites for lawyers who use the iPad in her latest Daily Record article.
Alan Cohen writes about what the 2012 edition of the iPad means for lawyers in this article for Law Technology News.
Dallas attorney Tom Mighell reviews VirusBarrier, an app that can scan e-mail attachments to see if they have viruses before you open them. I’m not aware of any iPad or iPhone viruses so I’m not sure how necessary this app really is. [UPDATE: Mighell notes in a comment to this post that even if you can’t get a virus on your iPhone/iPad, this app would help guard against your passing along a virus to a computer by forwarding an e-mail with a virus attached. I suppose that is something.]
Apple updated the iOS software to iOS 5.1.1 this week to fix a few bugs. You can update directly from your iPhone or iPad. Just open the Settings app and go to General -> Software Update.
If you missed the Steve Jobs patents exhibit when it was at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, VA last year, Glenn Künzler of MacTrast reports that the exhibit will be at the Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center in Washington, D.C. today through July 8.
Andy Ihnatko of the Chicago Sun Times raves about iPhoto on the iPad, a very impressive app, albeit one with a learning curve.
Brian Chen of the New York Times writes that Amtrak conductors are starting to use iPhones to check train tickets.
An iPhone waked into a bar … and performed bar tricks, thanks to several apps reviewed by Bob Tedeschi of the New York Times.
And finally, Marco Tempast is a magician who has come up with a clever way to combine three iPod touches and slight of hand. This is really fun. Check it out:
Around 40,000 people are in New Orleans this week for the International CTIA Wireless convention, the largest meeting of the wireless industry in the world. Apple itself does not have an official presence at the show (although I’m sure Apple employees are here), but the convention is full of companies that are a part of the iPhone and iPad ecosystem. I spent some time on the exhibit floor yesterday and saw lots of interesting iPhone accessories. I also bumped in to the Android robot wearing a pair of Mardi Gras beads. I didn’t ask the robot what it had to do on Bourbon Street to earn them.
While some of the products I saw are available now, many were brand new with exhibitors looking for distributors. For example, a company called Perch was looking for distributors for a new product that sits between a wall outlet and your iPhone/iPad plug. The idea is that you take the device with you when you travel, and if you disconnect your iPhone and don’t disconnect the charger within a period of time, the device chirps to warn you before you forget your charger in your hotel room.
If you are looking for iPhone cases, you’ll all but trip over them at a convention like this, especially if you are looking for something sort of interesting like a skyline on an iPhone case:
And if you are looking for an iPhone case with some “bling” your options at CTIA are endless:
Over the coming weeks, I’ll talk about some of the more interesting iPhone and iPad related products that I had a chance to preview yesterday.
