TechnoLawyer: TL Editorial

Inevitably, every pop culture phenomenon gets a rap parody. The latest such parody skewer's Apple's "I'm a Mac. I'm a PC." ads.

Of course, leave it to David Pogue to go retro and use the standard pop tune "My Way" to cover the iPhone frenzy.

Finally, I presume you're aware of the film Michael Clayton starring George Clooney as a corporate lawyer. Like most large firm lawyers, he ends up in the inevitable car chase with bullets whizzing past him. Why do they never tell you about that aspect of the job in law school? 

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Thanks to Silverbrook Research's Memjet, HP's Edgeline, and Kodak's EasyShare we might someday look back at 2007 as the year the inkjet printer began to leapfrog the laser printer in terms of speed and cost per page.

A few weeks ago, Databazaar Blog published five interviews about the printer industry's past, present, and future with five printer pundits. They all agreed on the importance of 2007, but offered different forecasts of the future. However, they did agree on one issue — inkjet versus laser.

For example, Vince Ferraro of HP felt that both inkjet and laser printers would continue to play important but different roles in offices. Inkjet supplies analyst Andy Lippman of Lyra Research noted that even today "25% to 35% of all desktop inkjet devices are installed in a business environment." He expects this percentage to grow, but not necessarily at the expense of laser printers.

Art Diamond, a world-renowned toner expert and holder of several patents, agreed, noting that "old technologies die hard." M. David Stone, PC Magazine's resident printer expert, also agreed, adding, "Even if inkjets catch up in speed, there's still a quality issue."

Printer industry consultant Jim Lyons said he could see a day when inkjets make laser printers obsolete. "Toner may be seen as a temporary aberration in the long view," he said. "I'm still not giving up my LaserJets just yet though!" he added.

This issue was one of many covered. If your law firm is a heavy user of printers, check out all five interviews.

HP Executive Vincent Ferraro Discusses HP's Past, Present, and Future

Industry Expert Jim Lyons Discusses HP, its Competitors, and the Future of Printing

Toner Pioneer Art Diamond Reflects on His 52 Year Career and the Future of Printing

Inkjet Expert Andy Lippman Discusses Memjet and the Coming Inkjet Printer Revolution

PC Magazine Contributing Editor M. David Stone Closes Out Printer Pundit Week With Panache

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Don't feel like reading about the iPhone? How about watching and listening instead? Check out these iPhone gems.

In iPhone: A Guided Tour, Apple draws the curtain and takes you on a 24 minute tour of the iPhone's 16 applications. If you're considering an iPhone, it's a must-see. If you're considering using online video for marketing purposes, it's also a must-see.

In TechCrunch's Take on the iPhone, Steve Jobs is Jesus Christ and the iPhone is the Holy Grail — an amusing spoof.

Better still, The Future Is Calling uses footage from 2001: A Space Odyssey (think iPhone as black monolith).

Finally, two worthy podcasts:

Apple Phone Show

Today in iPhone

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Dubbed the "Jesus Phone," Apple's iPhone has technology pundits squaring off — fans who predict iPod-like success and haters who predict a flop. But everyone agrees that the iPhone is the biggest technology product launch ever in terms of media coverage. Therefore, I thought I'd take you on a tour of some of the more interesting coverage.

(Disclaimer — I'm an unabashed fan of Apple because of the company's obsession with simplicity and usability. We try to do the same here at TechnoLawyer — e.g., you can contribute a post by just replying to any of our newsletters.)

On our first stop, Wayne Smallsman of Blah Blah Technology in his article Apple iPhone: DOA? explains why he won't buy an iPhone:

• Not waterproof to depths of 1,000 meters.
• No multi-lingual translation of voice calls.
• Built-in camera cannot scan retina.
• No EMP shield for use during a nuclear attack.

And many more sound and logical reasons.

Next, on a more serious note, Daniel Eran of RoughlyDrafted has penned an insightful analysis entitled Secret iPhone Details Lost in a Sea of Hype and Hate. In this article, he discusses the motivations behind some of the iPhone critics, none of whom have used an iPhone yet.

Over the weekend, USA Today published Top Secret Tests, an article about 200 AT&T technicians who have secretly tested the iPhone throughout the country over the past few months. Their conclusion — it's ready. This article exemplifies Apple's flawless public relations campaign to date, which has pretty much steamrolled all the critics.

For example, Apple responded to criticism of the scratch-prone plastic screen with a surprise announcement that the iPhone would have a glass screen. Apple also made a surprise announcement about battery life (8 hours of talk time). In this USA Today article, Apple addresses voice quality and bandwidth.

Incidentally, I hope it doesn't come as a shock to you that virtually every business article you read in a newspaper is placed there by a public relations firm.

Given Apple's success at steering public opinion, the iPhone will undoubtedly end up in the hands of many senior partners. InfoWorld has two takes on the issue of supporting these users within an organization.

In iPhone: The Device IT Managers Will Love to Hate, Matt Hamblen quotes a number of analysts who predict a nightmare scenario for IT departments.

But in Seth Weintraub's opinion piece in the same publication, Analysts Miss the Point on the iPhone, he makes the case for the iPhone in the enterprise. Among his arguments, the iPhone's support for open standards like POP and IMAP email, and Apple's ability to build superior user interfaces that boost productivity.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Think Zagat for lawyers except that Avvo uses its own algorithm in conjunction with publicly-available information to generate its ratings. Personally, I think a combined Zagat/Amazon approach would generate more reliable results and better protect Avvo from lawsuits.

Speaking of which, Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro has filed a class action lawsuit against Avvo even though the site just launched earlier this month. Talk about jumping the gun. See Browne v. Avvo.

Berman has a point. I just take issue with his method. A class action lawsuit comprised of a bunch of whiny lawyers is not likely to generate much sympathy.

Wake up class — it's 2007. Like it or not, you can no longer completely control what the world thinks of you. And the answer doesn't lie in a lawsuit.

The lawsuit lists criminal lawyer John Henry Browne as the representative plaintiff.

Like I said, he and Berman make some valid points. For example, Avvo's CEO Mark Britton has an 8.2/10 rating. That's like us giving us one of our TechnoLawyer @ Awards. Britton should pull his listing from Avvo.

Also, my rating is 6.4 (Good) whereas Browne's rating is 5.5 (Average). I practiced law for 4 years before jumping ship to start PeerViews whereas Browne has practiced for 35 years. Can an average lawyer remain in business for that long and represent high-profile clients like basketball stars and police chiefs?

But the biggest problem is that Avvo cannot possibly take into account a lawyer's work product since much of it never becomes public.

Case in point — I wrote some pretty amazing research memos in my day, including a 50 state survey for a celebrity CEO about how he could legally spy on his employees. This memo was was a top secret project. As far as I know, the memo had an audience of just three people — me, the partner who assigned the project, and the CEO. I was told not to discuss the project with my colleagues. During those 3-4 weeks, I was shielded from other assignments.

How could Avvo possibly rate me on this research memo?

But be that as it may, I think we need Avvo. Or more precisely, those seeking legal services need Avvo. It's just that consumers need an Avvo with a more transparent Zagat-style rating system driven entirely by clients and ex-clients — plus Amazon-style reviews to go along with the ratings.

That's my take. What do others think? Check out the June 18, 2007 Lawyer to Lawyer podcast in which hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi interview Browne along with Carolyn Elefant and Denise Howell.

For his part, Browne lists some amusing errors on Avvo (e.g., deceased lawyers), but he weakens his case by dishing out over-the-top pronouncements (e.g., "The people that run Avvo completely lack integrity because the system is basically a joke.").

But at least Browne showed up. Avvo was a no-show despite an invitation. Then again, Avvo is facing a lawsuit thanks to Berman and Browne. If you watch enough Larry King, you'll note that plaintiffs typically want to discuss their case while defendants typically shun the media.

The two stars of the show are Carolyn and Denise who make many excellent points, including the following:

• Most state bars do not provide lawyer ratings or reviews so you can't blame Avvo for seizing an opportunity.

• If Avvo shuts down, it should be the result of market forces, not a lawsuit.

• Google doesn't disclose its algorithm because doing so might enable people to game the system so why should Avvo?

• You cannot opt out of Google so why should you be able to opt out of Avvo?

• A site like Avvo could help raise the profile of outstanding lawyers in small firms.

Bottom line — Avvo launched prematurely and needs to fix its ratings system, or better yet, replace it with Zagat-style ratings and Amazon-style reviews. Plus it should slap a "beta" disclaimer on its Web site. And Berman and Browne should drop their lawsuit.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

For more than a decade, Sabrina Pacifici's LLRX has provided lawyers, law librarians, and others with tons of helpful legal research not to mention legal technology information. In particular, I've always liked the overviews of the legal systems of other countries as well as Brett Burney's Legal Tech Reviews column.

While the excellent content continued to chug along year after year, the site began to show its age and even get in the way. It was time for an extreme makeover, legal edition.

So Sabrina retained Web design firm Justia to redesign the site, and just as importantly, implement a modern content management system — in this case Drupal, which is open source. The result is a fast-loading Web site with several ways to find content of interest to you.

I especially like the featured articles on the top of the home page, the bookstore, the Google-powered search engine, the drill down subject categories to find content (though they can be a bit overwhelming to browse casually), and printer-friendly versions of all articles. Best of all for longtime fans, if you have a favorite author or column, you'll find it extremely easy to find all the back issues.

All in all, the new LLRX demonstrates the importance of user interface design in making information accessible.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

A few months ago I encouraged CLE providers to make their online audio courses available in MP3 format so that lawyers could listen to them anywhere. I also suggested that permitting us to share these files with others would boost business.

A number of people contacted me to tell me about various bar associations and other nonprofits that offer CLE courses in MP3 format, including podcasts.

Today, I'd like to add two more nonprofits to the list — the ABA along with the ALI. As an aside, I find it ironic that nonprofits have taken the lead in providing MP3 CLE courses. Then again, for profit companies often get themselves tripped up by being overly concerned about intellectual property, which probably explains why so many continue to cling to streaming media. But I digress.

For many years, the ABA via its ABA Connection has provided one hour of free CLE every month via teleconference, which is great since many states require exactly that amount or less. However, like all live events, if you can't dial in at the appointed time, you're out of luck.

Perhaps recognizing this problem, the ABA has embraced the Internet by making these lectures available for one month from its Web site in MP3 format. Even better, you can subscribe to these lectures via podcast. While you'll need an ABA membership to download the lectures, you don't need one for the podcast, which is your best bet anyway thanks to its time- and place-shifting attributes. Just search for "ABA CLE" in the iTunes store.

If you don't use iTunes, the ABA has a Web page featuring its podcast. Interestingly, on this page, you can buy an iPod preloaded with a few hours of CLE courses. I don't recommend doing so as the iPods carry a premium price, presumably for the CLE content. I do, however, like the concept of preloaded CLE courses, but the ABA should offer state-specific iPods with all the courses you would need for a CLE cycle (2-3 years in most states). That would be worth a premium price, especially for techno-phobic lawyers (an iPod would provide a friendlier introduction to computing than a PC).

If you really care about actually learning something useful as opposed to just fulfilling your credits, you might want more variety than ABA Connection provides. Once again, the ABA can help thanks to its partnership with the ALI — known as ALI-ABA.

This joint venture just launched a new Web site without any of the old Arabian Nights imagery, but chock full of CLE courses. Among the notable features, well over 100 of the courses are available in MP3 format for immediate download. You can locate them quickly thanks to a solid search engine.

So congratulations to the ABA and ALI. If you know of any other forward-thinking CLE providers, please let me know.

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

As you know, we applaud law firms and vendors that incorporate video into their marketing plans. While online video doesn't make sense for everyone, you would think that every vendor specializing in demonstrative evidence would use video to showcase their services. But a YouTube search pulls up just one company — Truly Media.

Now, perhaps other vendors have videos on their sites and rely on Google to drive traffic there. But increasingly, when people search for videos, they turn to YouTube, which is owned by Google. In fact, Google now lists YouTube videos on its own site. Plus YouTube is free so why not take advantage? More than 3,600 people have viewed Truly Media's video. Not a huge number of people, but the company has paid nothing. Watch the video (click here if you can't see the video below).

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

Most of us only have time to read essential publications that cover our respective industry. But for all the information junkies out there, these five technology blogs don't cover anything related to the legal profession, but you'll probably like them a lot all the same. I certainly do.

Techmeme: Bill Gates probably reads Techmeme. Part search engine, part blog, Techmeme uses an algorithm to list the most important technology articles, and updates the list constantly throughout the day.

Infectious Greed: Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Maybe Gordon Gekko was right all along. In this blog, Paul Kedrosky provides some of the sharpest insight on the media and technology sectors (primarily public companies).

TechCrunch & GigaOm: A two for one since both of these blogs cover the same beat — technology startups. TechCrunch excels at breaking news and product reviews, whereas GigaOm excels at analysis. In other words, they go together like peanut butter and chocolate (sorry, I don't like jelly).

Don Dodge on the Next Big Thing: Picture this: A middle manager at Microsoft starts a blog and becomes more popular and highly-regarded than many in Microsoft's senior ranks. That's what happened to Robert Scoble. Expect history to repeat itself with Don Dodge.

ValleyWag: Though it has lost some its edge (outlandishness?), ValleyWag remains the best source for Silicon Valley gossip. For example, did you know that Google co-founder Sergey Brin tied the knot last week? The wedding invitation simply told guests to show up for a ride in the Google jet (which eventually landed in the Bahamas).

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.

As you may know, those who contribute to TechnoLawyer receive ViewPoints — our currency. Each ViewPoint is worth 2 cents. ViewPoints never expire.

You can currently use ViewPoints to purchase a TechnoLawyer Archive subscription. Soon, you'll be able to use them to purchase TechnoLawyer Classifieds.

Below you will find a list of the top 10 TechnoLawyer Tycoons — the 10 active members who currently have the most ViewPoints. While not exactly a Gates-like fortune, these sums are very impressive nonetheless.

230,975 ($4,619.50): Seth Rowland

129,225 ($2,584.50): Ed Poll

101,650 ($2,033): Tim Piganelli

86,660 ($1,733.20): John Heckman

82,475 ($1,649.50): Wells Anderson

75,500 ($1,510): Jeffrey Allen

75,450 ($1,509): Patricia Nemish

74,760 ($1,495.20): Ross Kodner

53,375 ($1,067.50): David Moon

53,200 ($1,064): Bruce Olson

In all, 31 TechnoLawyer members have 10,000 or more ViewPoints — most of them TechnoFeature authors. However, expect this number to increase. Why? Because we will soon begin awarding more ViewPoints for Posts that appear in our Answers to Questions and Fat Friday newsletters. A lot more — up to 20,000 per Post ($400).

Thank you to all our contributors! Please keep it coming!

About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.