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Here's how technologically advanced lawyers are: Three weeks before the 6th generation of iPhone is expected to be announced, the publisher of TechnoLawyer newsletter is looking for some brave soul who took the plunge and started using an iPhone to assure him that it is a safe choice. Of the gurus who stepped forward, one actually had an iPhone 4, upgraded to a 4S last week, and is "just learning to use Siri" (like you need course with a textbook and professor before you're certified to safely use it on your own). The other is a guy who jumped on the iPhone bandwagon 10 whole weeks ago when he finally concluded that mobile Internet access might be useful. He's sold on the iPhone, but and "hasn't really embraced apps yet." WTF? These are the early adopters! Here's a hot tip, buddy: The Google is going to be big. Look into it.
For the Question of the Week, TechnoLawyer publisher Neil Squillante asks:
"Well, you knew I'd ask this question. For 16 months, the iPhone 4 was the world's top-selling smartphone. I returned mine because of the antenna issue (it was pretty bad in my home). Now that Apple has apparently fixed that issue, I plan to buy an iPhone 4S to replace my 3GS, but I'm not the type to wait in line or preorder (plus I'm still trying to decide between black or white). But I'm sure at least one Fat Friday subscriber has their hands on a new iPhone 4S. Please reply to this newsletter or use the email link below and submit your review from a legal perspective."
Robert Sidell responded:
"I just purchased an iPhone 4S (having a 4 before that) on Friday. I got it for two reasons, the SIRI voice feature and the enhanced camera. While I am just learning to use Siri, so far I think it will be very helpful to law practice. If you want to remember something, you just speak into it, and it types it out, and sets the date and time you wish to be remembered. Plus you can look at a list of the reminders by just pulling down the front screen. The bottom line is that I think it will be a very useful tool.…"
Erin E. Byington wrote:
"I just received my iPhone 4S a week ago as a belated Christmas gift due to 3 backorders. I have enjoyed Siri in that I can email and text message through voice operation while I am driving, I can ask it to find places, then immediately navigate from my current location, and I have been impressed with the number of applications that readily transfer between my iPhone and iPad 2. I also had no issues with the phone's ability to sync my calendar, contacts, and other tasks.… So far, I am a fan!"
I've had my iPhone 4S for 10 weeks but it only took me one week to decide that I loved my new phone. I had delayed moving to a mobile phone that would do anything more than call and text after seeing how non-stop access to the internet had changed my friends and colleagues work behavior.
Although I was constantly told that I needed to upgrade to a smartphone (usually when someone would ask me to email them something from my phone and I would respond that I couldn't, glibly telling them "my phone's a phone"), I found that with proper planning, I usually was able to get around it. I had a GPS unit in my car, I used a leather-bound dayplanner and I kept my laptop with me so I could always jump into a coffee shop with free WiFi if I really found myself with the need to go online for work.
Of course, now that I have an iPhone, I don't have any of those items, just the phone. While I miss turn-by-turn directions (I am holding off from buying a third party GPS App since iOS 6 will have that feature), Maps on the iPhone doesn't require me to buy new maps for my GPS each year. My schedule is right on the iPhone (and CalenMob allows me to use multiple Google Calendars) so I don't need to carry the dayplanner anymore. Finally, my laptop is only unpacked when I'm going to be working in a location for a significant length of time, instead of needing to be unpacked if I find myself with the need to check a file or to send a quick email. I've even been able to use my iPhone instead of my camera when I'm out with friends but until someone make a camera phone with a zoom lens, I'm not getting rid of my point and click camera.
I haven't really embraced apps. I have a few but I've only paid for one app and that was a game (which really would work better on the larger iPad). I have tried out the free law practice apps that I see reported on in TL NewsWire but none of them have really jumped out at me. I have found Dropbox to be a necessity although that is not strictly speaking, a law practice app.
In the end, while I do like all of the new features that I got by moving from a "dumb" phone to a smartphone, what I like best about my new phone are the improvements on the existing features found in all smartphones: I'm able to hold many more contacts in my contact list, I can store many more text messages and visual voicemail makes checking voicemail much easier. So, while I do enjoy my iPhone 4S, I would probably have liked the iPhone 4 or the 3GS just as much.
Stephen Rudman
srudman@temple.edu
[CM's Note: I'm glad Stephen likes his iPhone 4S but his claim at the end that all smartphones are essentially equivalent isn't true. I don't think he appreciates the user interface design that makes the iPhone easier to use than competing smartphones. The fact that he was able to get up and running so effortlessly is a testament to that design.]
