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 The hype for the Apple tablet has been high, even frenetic. So the expectations are equally high as Apple announced the much expected iPad at their WWDC conference. But what does it mean for solo and small law firms.
Based on what I see from the announcement, I'm not expecting it to make a big impact with solo and small law firms, or at least nothing like the popularity of the iPhones.
This is not to say that the iPad isn't a great device, it is. The question is what role would it serve for solo and small firms?
I think tablets make a great deal of sense for a lawyer. When I was practicing my computer was the backbone of my practice - going back the the IBM XT (with an unbelievably huge 20 meg hard-drive!) I bought in 1985. But I never used the computer when I met with a client. I sat with the client and if I need to note something, I would jot it down on a legal pad. A big desktop or even a laptop computer just seemed to get in the way of the human interaction. After the meeting was over, I would type my notes and thoughts into a database on my computer. Double the input work, but preserving that human interacton.
When I first saw a tablet computer, I though, "This is perfect, hand write on the tablet computer instead of a note pad - input the information once (and with handwriting recognition/OCR have it in searchable form) rather than twice yet still preserve that more human contact since you don't have a computer between you and the client, just a tablet that sits on the desk. But we know that story - tablet computers have never taken hold in any market, let alone the legal market.
Will the iPad be a new way? I'm not seeing it with what was announced. Granted, this is a beautiful machine. The graphics look great, the portability is good, the form factor seems humane, email and calendaring looks great (though not significantly better than what I have on my iPhone). It is slick, well designed - everything you'd expect from a Steve Jobs pet project.
But here is what is troubling me. I was hoping for a tablet computer with a multi-touch interface. It seems more like an over-grown iPhone (more properly an over-grown iPod Touch since there isn't a cell phone in it):
- Like the iPhone/iPod Touch, it is not flash compatible, thus in one of its strongest areas - web browsing - it is severely handicapped. So many websites come up, well, rather blank and information less and many videos can't be viewed even though this is an excellent video viewing platform.
- While you can run iPhone like apps downloaded from Apple, and it sounds like some form of iLife or iWork, what about the real apps that we run every day from client management databases, to Word, to PowerPoint - I don't want my Tablet Computer restricted to the Apps Apple thinks I want - I want to be able to run what I need to run just as I do on my MacBook.
- I didn't see anything about handwriting recognition. Apple has that sort of technology - they used it in the Newton and it has been a stable of Tablet Computers from day one. Maybe there's an App for that, or will be but I expected to see that sort of capability built into the operating system so that it was available ubiquitously through all the applications.
I'm not trying to trash the iPad. On the contrary, I think it is a great evolutionary device. But evolutionary change requires a niche to which the new species is adapted. I'm not seeing the niche for solo or small law firms but I think with a few tweaks (or maybe a few Apps) it could be.
- Peter H. Berge
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