Criminal Defense Law With An Apple

Since I cover a lot of cloud computing solutions for law firms, I thought I would post this link.  It is a good article with some interesting links on how others view the matter.

I think each person going to have a different experience  with Apple Care. I myself have had good and bad. But Apple Care is the human experience. You are talking to a person. If they perceive you as a person, you are going to have a better experience. I have been to Apple Care my fair share of times and people get very emotional about their computers/data/pictures/music/work/whatever. Moreover, people can get anxious, obnoxious, indignant and rude. And that is just while we are waiting in line to talk to the Apple Rep.

In this case, I loaned my friend my iPad so he could use it for a presentation. I had only owned the iPad for a few days. Long story short, he handed it to the CEO, the CEO dropped it on the table. Not bad so far. Unfortunately, it landed glass side down…on his car keys. A nice big scratch going right across the screen. For what it is worth, according to my friend, it did blend with the shooting stars background.

The damage was cosmetic and outside what Apple Care covers. Furthermore, it wasn’t even his. It was mine. Without calling me, he took it to the Apple Store and politely explained the whole thing. After some brief deliberation by the Apple Care Rep, they replaced the iPad. A quick sync at the office and a few adjustments, no harm done.

Now will Apple Care do this for you? I don’t know. I am sure each persons mileage will vary. I know I made a big ruckus with Apple Care when they sold me a MBP that ran hot enough to cook an egg on. Some folks got their laptop replaced. I was not one of them. I think it is a judgment call. It is a human decision. They listen and decide.

So remember when you go to get something taken care of from Apple Care, you are dealing with a human. Treat them accordingly and you might get results.

On a side note, Apple left a lasting impression on my friend. His next computer will be an Mac.

Well the iPad arrived on Saturday. Despite all the, “it is just a big iPhone” commentary flying around the net, I purchased the first generation. And it is great! I had loads of fun with the iPad this weekend and it sound like lots of other lawyers did the same.

So how is it?

For now, I have no buyers remorse. I have loaded up all my apps from my iPhone, plus a few that were made just for the iPad. I have a series of web pages as icons that I use daily. The web is just so much more practical on an iPad.

The calendar is fantastic. This is what we need in court when a judge sets the next court date. I can see everything I need, in a quick and intuitive fashion. The days of scrolling around on an iPhone while a judge stares at you impatiently are gone. Address book and mail look even better than the iPhone and you can tell they spent time thinking about how to effectively utilize the additional real estate the iPad screen provides.

Some of the apps from third party developers that have not been updated for the iPhone look pixelated and the interface needs to be shined up (dropbox, 1password, etc). However, I don’t expect it will be very long before these are fixed.

Note: for all you lawyers that keep sensitive emails (privileged communication) and or documents on your iPad, lock it down and set the iPad for a wipe after multiple attempts to unlock (in system preferences). It only takes a few seconds to set this up and will give you piece of mind if the iPad is lost or stolen.

Who else is talking about it?

Self proclaimed geek and legal technologist (and Criminal Defense Lawyer) Nicole Black did a great pictorial overview of her weekend unboxing. You can read her blog dedicated to iPad for lawyers here.  She even has a twitter list, for those of you that tweet, here. We also have Tablet Legal that is keeping up with all things iPad.

It is my understanding (my ear placed close to the ground) that Ben Stevens of Mac Lawyer fame is going to kick out a blog for iPad as well. We’ll keep you posted. Otherwise we’ll have to wait for the other Apple legal bloggers thoughts until next month (I think everyone else is waiting for their 3G order).

That’s it for now.