Wireless Internet - some more thoughts - I read this article on the deployment of Wi-Fi in Starbucks. I keep reading about the coffee house + Wi-Fi revolution. I'm convinced that it will happen, but I'm not sure that T-Mobile is going to be the Johnny Appleseed of this revolution. If I want wireless access at a coffee shop then I probably am already addicted to broadband access and have a wireless card. If I do then I'm not forking out an additional hunk of money for the opportunity to sip latte at my local Java Hut and surf the Internet.
And, while I'm on the subject of Wi-Fi, let me tell you that PDA's and wireless have a long way to go. I got a wireless card for my Sony Clie to test it out and it works great for emails. But frankly I don't care how long it takes to pull down emails (I use my Treo and it's plenty fast enough). But if I could enjoyably browse the Internet on a PDA that would be a good thing. But I can't. Why? Well, web pages aren't optimized for small screens powered by pokey PDA CPUs. And even if you are using a PDA with a fast CPU (which my Sony has) then you still run into the problem of "browsing" on a PDA. If anyone out there has used a PDA with Wi-Fi to create an enjoyable browsing experience I'd love to hear about it.
11:15:53 PM
Storage metrics - this soon to be released storage device is the size of a credit card and holds 5 GBs of data. So that would be the equivalent of about 35 boxes of paper, which would weigh over 3,000 pounds.
3:35:32 PM
Design Interface matters - from the coolest looking cellphones to the lowliest plumbing devices.
12:21:43 PM
Your car is both a car and a 'weather balloon.' - Phil Windley has some thoughts about Grid Sensors: "Last week, I wrote about using the temperature sensors installed in cars in a cooperative way to monitor weather conditions in over a large area. It strikes me as I've thought about it over the week end, that there are sensors everywhere and society would be better off if they were widely available. Let me give some examples... " [more via Windley's Enterprise Computing Weblog]
12:05:52 PM
Is there a place for IM in the legal profession? - Marty Schwimmer announces today Trademark Lawyers Are Standing By to Take Your IM: "You will notice a link to the left which say 'Instant Message Us Now.' [T]he IT department hooked it up as part of an experiment with the use of instant messaging in providing legal information. Our IM address is schwimmerlegal...." Any other lawyers out there using IM? Come on, don't be afraid to admit it.
12:03:06 PM
A new model for legal work - on Thursday an old client called about a rush project that they wanted me to handle. They overnighted the batch of relevant documents and asked me to get up to speed quickly. I took the time to prepare a Casemap database (culled with information from another matter that I handled for the same client). But I still needed to comb through the documents. I wanted to be able to both look at the documents and also have them coded into Casemap. Fortunately, our firm has a paralegal named Kim Plonsky who is totally tech-aware (seeher blog for example).
I sent Kim the documents by E-mail (across our VPN) because she is in Lafayette and I'm in New Orleans. She pulled the documents together, coded them into Casemap, put them into Adobe Acrobat as a single PDF file, bookmarked each document, tagged the privileged documents and a whole lot more. On Sunday morning, I logged into our network from home and downloaded her work product. It was superb and it was better than what I would have asked for. Not just because she worked hard at it, but because she understands how to organize documents (even electronic ones) far better than I do.
That's not surprising, really. Paralegals typically organize documents. But what surprised me was that I thought I knew more about organizing electronic documents than pretty much anyone in our firm. Well, I happily concede that Kim knows more than I do. And I'm glad.
A lawyer shouldn't have to fool around with organizational tasks; it's not an efficient or cost-effective allocation of resources. And yet someone has to do it. I think when it comes to electronic documents lawyers are afraid to enter that realm because many lawyers are control-freaks and like to explain to the paralegal exactly what to do with the documents. That doesn't make sense generally, but in the arena of e-documents it especially doesn't make sense.
Lawyers are increasingly being put under pressure to be more efficient (which they should be), but they don't seem to be doing much about it. My advice is find a paralegal like Kim (or Larry) and let them do their job. Give them support and praise. And then ask them to train the other paralegals to do what they do. You'll be able to handle a lot more cases and make more money. And you'll do a better job, and your clients will appreciate it. As I see it, in the new world of law firm management, the support staff are the most valuable resource, if they are used properly. And, compensated properly too.
