This article was first published in the ABA's GPSolo Magazine, December 2008 (c) 2010 by Victoria L. Herring

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GPSOLO December 2008
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Ditch the Laptop, Bring the iPhone 3G
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Periodicals By Victoria L. Herring
Publications There are plenty of articles these days about the iPhone and
Resources the pros and cons of having and using one. As a rabid Apple
product purchaser and user—which I excuse by thinking that it
helps my stock price to rise—I really wanted to get one, but
held off. For about a week. (I can’t always be the very first in
line.)
Fortunately, my Verizon plan had completed its term, and I
could transfer my number to my husband and get my own
AT&T plan and the iPhone. So I did. I have now used the
original version of the iPhone since mid-July and just
purchased the new iPhone 3G, and I have some thoughts I’d
like to share about its use for lawyers in their work.
I really enjoyed my original iPhone. The AT&T plan was
actually cheaper than my Treo service on my family’s old
Verizon plan. I would sync my iPhone with my main computer,
the office MacPro, and keep the calendars and address book
up to date. I did not “jailbreak” the phone (i.e., “unlock” it or
open it to unlicensed software or mobile networks) because
that might cause problems, and I didn’t see any reason to do
so given my limited needs.
I found that almost all of the programs for my original iPhone
were useful (remember, this was before the expansion
through the App Store): SMS (short message service) text
messaging if I wanted to reach my son, for instance; the
Calendar to keep track of events and appointments; the
Camera, which is not great, but will do in a pinch; Maps;
Weather; Clock, with its great, easy-to-set alarm function that
soon replaced my travel alarm clock; Notes to record things so
I wouldn’t forget them; and of course the main programs—
Phone, Mail, Safari, and iPod.
I did find that I had some issues with phoning, mainly because
of the signal strength of AT&T’s service; oddly enough, I get
only two or three bars at my home in Des Moines, Iowa, but
when I traveled to Anchorage, Alaska, I was routinely getting
a full five bars. The signal strength caused a little slowness
getting Mail and using Safari, but I didn’t mind because I’d
often use these services when I was in a WiFi-enabled
location. And if I couldn’t be there, then the Edge network
actually worked quite well. The fun thing was to use the iPod
to play music at dinner, using the speakers built right into the
iPhone.
I also found that I could use my iPhone at conferences and
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out of the country just fine. When attending conventions in
Chicago and Puerto Rico, I left my laptop at my lodging and
used my iPhone to do everything I needed during each day.
On a trip to Buenos Aires, the iPhone was my chosen method
of getting on the Internet; I found WiFi coverage on virtually
every corner in ice cream and coffee shops.
So, why did I graduate to the 3G—especially because Des
Moines doesn’t (yet) have AT&T’s faster 3G service? I knew I
was going to keep using the iPhone, so the new monthly
service plan wasn’t a huge leap for me. Plus, I had a trip
come up to Denver, which has 3G coverage. I went to the
Apple Store, got the 16 G black model (with a refund for the
portion of the AppleCare plan I had), and went home to set it
up. The 3G is almost identical to the original iPhone, but it
has more features that make it an even better replacement for
a laptop when you don’t want to carry one around. If you are
looking primarily for a nifty laptop replacement and don’t need
or want the phone service, check out the iPod touch, which
has the same features as the 3G but without the phone and
its hefty AT&T contract. (For more on whether the iPod touch
is a better bargain for lawyers, see Dennis Kennedy’s four-
part series on his blog, www.denniskennedy.com/blog.) Below
are my initial impressions of the 3G iPhone, after having used
it for a week or so.
I did use the 3G service in Denver and Boulder but didn’t
really notice an improvement in speed. It could have been the
nature of the connection or that I simply wasn’t paying
attention. But, like my original iPhone, if the 3G (or WiFi) isn’t
there, it drops back to good ol’ Edge and gets mail and allows
the use of Safari, etc., just fine. I was just in Rochester,
Minnesota, and used 3G there; I had five bars most of the
time.
Maps is much neater because you really can use it as a GPS
system. In fact, as I was driving to Rochester, I used Maps as
a GPS and delightedly watched the point of my location move
on down the highway; it also was a great help when I got lost
a couple of times. Apparently, when you take pictures with the
3G, the location you are in is also made part of the metadata
of the image, but I have not checked or tried that yet.
There have been some problems with MobileMe, Apple’s
”cloud” server in the sky that allows you to sync your desktop
information across machines (e.g., other desktops, laptops,
your iPhone) for access anywhere. I haven’t had problems
myself, though.
By far the best part of having the 3G is the ability to
download and install a plethora of applications to extend the
use of the iPhone (or the iPod touch, if you’re using that).
There are all sorts of great applications out there for a lawyer
to use, and others as well. I started with the free applications,
but I’ve bought a few, too. The apps listed below are mostly
free, although others range from 99 cents to about $6.
• Recorder allows you to record memos and notes to yourself
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and play them back later. Jott does this as well, apparently,
although it also uploads and transcribes them.
• Twitter, TypePad, Facebook, etc., are social networking
applications that allow you to reach out and blog or otherwise
share your thoughts. I am now blogging and interacting via
such programs much more than I did before I had the 3G.
• AOL Radio plays a number of radio stations.
• AIM lets you instant message. There are other programs for
this purpose, too; I haven’t had time to try them all.
• Dial Zero helps you to find a live, human being at
corporations that hide behind their answering system.
• I use NetNewsWire and NYTimes to check current affairs
and postings on RSS feeds and blogs I subscribe to. I use
TypePad to update my blogs.
• 1Password pairs with your desktop program to save and
generate passwords for the multiplicity of sites you visit.
• Midomi and Shazam can be used to identify a song playing
on the radio that you just can’t quite remember.
• myLite turns the iPhone into a flat flashlight. It uses a lot of
battery power and doesn’t give you a lot of light (or even a
beam, properly speaking), but it’s good if you’re in a dark
place and need some assistance.
• There are lots of games (SudokuFree, Sudoku, Moonlight
Mahjong Lite, Othello, and a host of others) to while away the
time.
• There are quite a number of applications for productivity
purposes, such as creating “to do” lists, there’s a Wikipedia
application so you can find things fast there, and a number of
scribbling or drawing applications.
• Urbanspoon helps you find restaurants. WeightTrack does
what its name says it will do. Ambiance gives you white noise
or night noises so you can fall asleep. Earth3D is neat, but I’m
not sure of its utility. I have Shakespeare, all the plays in full
text, on the iPhone.
• I did buy DataCase for about $6, and it was the best money
I’ve spent at the App Store so far. It allows you to click and
drag to the iPhone all sorts of documents, basically making
the iPhone into an easy-access hard drive. On my recent trip
to Denver, I saved onto the iPhone’s DataCase my trip
itinerary and other information and could access it easily.
There are thousands of other applications—reading
applications, messaging applications, record-keeping
application, etc.—but I’m still so far behind in getting to know
the ones I already have that I dare not add more.
The iPhone is really a new and compact computer using a
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variant of Apple’s OS X as its operating system. With the
original applications plus the new ones now available on the
App Store, you can use it to replace your laptop when you’re
traveling and don’t want to haul along the laptop, or when you
need to do something immediately without getting out your
laptop. It’s a great addition to a lawyer’s toolkit. If you want
the functionality without the phone, then the iPod touch is the
way to go. But, if you want to put everything in one place, the
iPhone 3G is great.
Victoria L. Herring practices in Des Moines, Iowa, in an office
that has used only Apple/Macs since the early 1980s. She
may be reached at vlh@herringlaw.com.
Copyright 2008
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