My friend Jeff Richardson has a great post up on the ABA Techshow website about lawyers using iPhones. Jeff is very level-headed and so, naturally, he doesn’t suggest the iPhone is for all lawyers. But he does a great job of explaining why many lawyers would want one.
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I have a Blackberry Curve 8330. My partner has an Iphone. I have to say that the IPhone has some truly amazing features but I am sticking with my curve for now.
Although Jeff’s article claims that there is little difficulty with the virtual keyboard, I find the physical keyboard to be superior. I can not type anywhere near as fast on the virtual one and my error rate is far higher.
I also love the camera and video camera built into the curve. Not only can I take an occasional photo of a document during a production (embarassing for my adversary when it does not show up on the documents I selected for copying), I can record my salsa lessons and look at them when I have a minute and memorize my new moves (it’s a long story). With an 8 gig smartdrive I can record up to 45 minutes of video, so there is no need for me to own an extra video camera and the pics that the curve takes are sufficient for my snapshot needs.
The curve also lets me take care of all my email needs and even review documents when im out of the office in PDF. It also acts as a modem for my notebook when I’m away from wifi. So, for now, im sticking with RIM and my blackberry.
Your real point, however, is that many lawyers can benefit from a good smartphone . . . you’ll get no argument there from me.
Lou