The day I had been fighting against had arrived. I walked into my office. And there it was; sitting in the center of the desk... an iPad2. I was angry. I tried to determine why this frustratingly-simple creature of the Apple world was laying there. I had not enjoyed or utilized an Apple product since the Apple 2Gs computer existed. I would continually swear against the company. I had claimed Apple was a marketing company before a tech company. Relating specifically to the iPad, I argued that, prior to its appearance, Tablets had been around for YEARS. They were called SLATE computers. I had my first tablet/slate in 2002. Yes, my slate had to utilize a stylus to navigate the touch screen. Yes, my slate was significantly heavier. BUT, it was highly functional. It had memory, ram, and of course USB ports. It ran Windows XP. It handled OneNote. It was basically a laptop without a keyboard. It did damn near everything.... Just not well. Hence my anger when the iPad arrived. It was a limited creature. And true to Apple's form, it did not play well with others. No USB ports, an Apple OS, Limited functionality, and very few accessories to add. It appeared intentionally limited. And I hate limitations.
However, I did not close my mind to its use. Since, it was on my desk. I learned that the office had purchased the product for me. They requested I review it for benefits to the firm. I had told them that I did not want to participate in their experiment and that there were other tech toys I wished to play with first. But the tech committee had voted and I was stuck.
Therefore, I plugged the thing into my PC and awaited disappointment.
To my immediate dismay, I stood in shock. The iPad was simple to setup. It flowed without frustration. There was limited delay in linking it to my iTunes account (which I admit is very useful in organizing my vast collection of classic rock and 80s music). Alright, I began to think; this thing is a giant iTouch. I could live with that. So, the first thing I decided to do was download some simple touch games for my 2 year old daughter, some spelling, some kids books and some of the talking animals apps. I knew that this was beneficial. A lot of these apps are created to assist in the language development. I just was not sold on the idea that this was a useful product for me or for law firms.
So, I continued my journey into this lightweight and quick loading item. It accessed the web in a fraction of the time of a netbook. Its start time was non-existent. It just was on as quick as it was off. As a PC fan, this confused me. I admit that I expect and sometimes love confusion. The blue-screen-of-death is a common blip still with Windows 7 (which I love).
I got used to the games, dabbled on the internet (the lack of flash sites began to give me a complaint), and synced all my personal e-mail accounts.
That is when I started to see the benefits of the device. The e-mail was quick, simple and convenient. I flew through the spam and unimportant e-mails; clearing out the irrelevant in seconds. I noticed that I was not provided the version with 3G, so I was connecting to WiFi. But in my area, Optimum provides WiFi throughout the county for free (with your personally subscription at your home of course).
Ease of use in e-mail, photos, and web browsing. Nice. I thought to myself, "my wife would love this. That is her entire use of computers."
And although work e-mail could be accessed on the iPad (I purchased and setup the Good network to access it), the missing keyboard made it difficult. Yet, then I noticed something. They had attachments: keyboard, apple tv, hdmi, etc... And I started thinking.
After playing around, I decided that the keyboard didn't make much sense. I'd like to stick to my laptop to work on. BUT, this light-weight creature may be very useful to a litigator going to a mediation, arbitration, or motion. It would save me the hassle of lugging a laptop to the courthouse.
As I tried to find the best way to send my documents from my PC to the iPad for my test mediation. I realized that there was a LogMeIn app. I have loved the integration of LogMeIn through the internet, so I figured I would give the app a shot.
The LogMeIn app is called Ignition. AWESOME!!! I was on a train to cape cod to take a deposition and, for the 5 hour ride, I was able to access my work computer and navigate all of my files. It easily transferred documents from the network drive to my iPad so that I could have the documents for the deposition. Documents that I did not have in my briefcase or suitcase. Once on the iPad, I utilized the dropbox app (BIG FAN OF DROPBOX), to get the apps onto my laptop (which was too big to utilize on the Amtrak train even in business class). After throwing the docs onto the USB, I printed them at the Marriott Courtyard (which had free printing, which was great because I had about 200 documents to print out).
So, now I start to realize that for reading .pdf documents, and flipping through e-mails, and general ease navigating information, the iPad 2 was very useful. Too useful. I began to see why it was addicting. I started to browse for the sake of browsing. I found myself almost bragging that I was holding the object.
BUT I continued my dabbling with the iPad.
Now, I wanted to focus on presentation technology. I lecture frequently on technology and the law. Especially in regards to trial work, e-discovery, and the use of social media and ethics. So, I wanted to see if I could find a decent slide-show presentation app.
Now for those that use the iPad (and I guess those that don't), it is a curious thing. I spend a couple hundred dollars on some of my audio/video/document editing software for my PC, but I spend hours debating if I should drop $1.99 on an app. I don't know why this is. But I have found myself debating the use of the small program being sold at a fairly reasonable price.
Now that I am back from the aside, I purchased SlideShark and Keynote.
These two appeared to be the best reviewed apps on the internet. So I got them both. First and foremost, the lack of the ability, of an iPad, to utilize many video file types is extremely frustrating. And both slideshow presenters do NOT allow embedded video. Both transfer Powerpoint-created slideshows from your PC. Both are very simple. Both allow for airplay.
Airplay is a great thing for presentations. It allows a wireless mirroring of the iPad 2. In order to utilize Airplay, you need to purchase a 2nd generation Apple TV. This is about $99. I traded a wireless keyboard and mouse for it (thanks Christina). This means that I can bring my presentation to any display with just the iPad, the Apple TV, and an internet connection. Yes, the flaw in this process is the internet connection. Both products have to be on the internet. Now, theoretically you could set your phone up to serve as a secure hotspot for both items and then utilize them for the presentation, but I would rather not have to put both on the internet and risk a loss of connection and, therefore, a loss in the presentation. But wireless presentation of a slideshow is huge for lecturing.
So, I now can use the device to present my lectures. I then found it easier to quickly display at the mediation, arbitration, or conference the facts and powerpoint. It was simpler than using a bulky laptop with a long boot (even if just held in hibernation mode).
Now, I have to admit, I am overcoming my hatred of Apple. The product clearly has significant benefits. Most of them, actually due to the clearly-designed limitations.
Ok, well what about trial. There could be no way to use this thing at trial. No benefit. Right?
Well, I don't know yet. I haven't broken into that phase yet. But I plan to. I will look at TrialPad, iJuror, Exhibit A, Fastcase, JuryTracker, TrialTouch, RLTC: Evidence, iJury, and JuryStar. I just have to get over that purchasing hesitation. I mean I just spent $4 on candy. I'm sure I shouldn't have this difficulty in spending that on an app that may assist my life.... Baby steps, I guess.
I'll keep you posted.
Posts
