Bill and I are here as doing our roadshow at Johnson City and I am entering a Blog on the Phil and Bill Show.
We take our show on the road to Johnson City, TN this Friday, April 18. We are presenting at the Tennessee Association of Justice 2008 Legal Technology Forum. The program starts at 9 a.m. at the Doubletree Hotel on Mockingbird Lane. Visit the website, www.tnaj.org/TN/ , for program details and schedule.
Phillip and I are here at Knoxville at the Tech Expo. We are giving away free t-shirts. The password is DS5000.
I just returned from the 27th annual Legal Technology conference in New York City (www.legaltechshow.com). This technology conference has become the premier legal technology showcase of the year for attorneys, IT administrators, consultants, and vendors alike. To be sure most vendors in the legal technology space are certain to have the very latest versions of their products ready for this event every year.
A few of my observations from this year’s show:
1. Electronic discovery continues to dominate the legal technology space. Many of the programs at the show revolved around some aspect of electronic discovery. One could hardly walk more than a couple of steps in the crowded exhibit hall without tripping over another e-discovery vendor hawking some revolutionary (and expensive) approach to handling e-discovery. It is clear that e-discovery continues to be a huge issue for litigators and it is also clear that it has become a big business opportunity. I see this trend continuing well into the future
2. In discussions with colleagues at the conference there seemed to be a consensus that there is no magic bullet for preserving, searching, and producing electronically stored information. While tools certainly proliferate to help with the process, there are still bottlenecks and difficulties that can complicate e-discovery. I heard one litigation support manager moan about being handed 10GB of electronic data at 2 p.m. and the attorney inquiring if they could have documents to review by 4 p.m. The complexities of e-discovery are compounded by unreal expectations such as this from attorneys who are dipping their toe into the e-discovery waters. While the e-discovery industry is still growing, the sizes of data stores subject to potential discovery are growing even faster. Love it or loathe it, electronic discovery is not going away as an issue that litigators must deal with.
3. Microsoft’s twin release of Vista and Office 2007, now one year old, has yet to have a huge impact on the legal industry. Many firms have yet to upgrade as was evident from the massive crowds at the Office 2007 migration planning session. In the large audience, a request was made for a show of hands from those whose firms have already upgraded. Not one hand was raised. Pretty amazing.
4. LegalTech is a great conference, however, I find that the programs and even some of the vendors seem to be skewed toward large law firms and corporate legal departments. Some of the advice dispensed and solutions proposed are simply not practical for the small to medium-size law firm. I have personally seen smaller organizations who have been sold massively oversized information systems because a consultant who came from a large corporate environment assumed that what was good for the corporate giant was also good for a much smaller firm. This type of miscalculation is very expensive and completely avoidable. Remember, in technology, “one size fits all” is not an accurate axiom.
5. Lexis-Nexis and Thompson-Elite continue to gobble up companies at an alarming rate. Their respective spaces on the exhibit floor were massive. I wouldn’t be surprised at future LegalTechs to be given a choice to visit either the Lexis or Thompson wings of the exhibit floor. From legal research to practice management, litigation support tools and electronic discovery solutions, these two behemoths are seeking to become the one-stop shop destination for legal technology software and services. You could liken it to the Wal-martization of the legal tech industry, although these two vendors don’t necessarily represent discounted pricing. (Disclaimer: I am a Certified Independent Consultant for Lexis-Nexis products, Time Matters, Billing Matters, and Practice Advantage. My association with Time Matters preceded its acquisition by Lexis).
6. Being in New York during the Super Bowl and Super Tuesday was quite an experience. I was there last year when Bill Gates came to town to introduce Vista to the world. Mr. Gates couldn’t hold a candle to Eli and Hillary this year, however.
I am reviewing a number of products that I saw at the show. Some will no doubt find their way into the column. Stay tuned.
–Phil
Here’s a neat device (http://www.gearthstore.com/products/gps/trackstick/trackstick2/details.html) from The Earth Store that allows you to track your precise travel route using GPS satellite technology. The Trackstick(TM) II Personal GPS Tracker ($179.00) is a small device that you can slip in your pocket before embarking on a trip, bicycle ride, or hike. The Trackstick II gets its location from GPS satellites and creates a detailed record of your travel. The travel log can be integrated with Google(TM) Earth and your precise route can be replayed on the map. Very cool!
As all of you know, April 22, 2008, is Earth Day. I was concerned that I did not have any “Green Gadgets” to honor the day. Boy, was I wrong, as Phil was glad to point out to me. A simple Google search for the term “Green Gadgets” will return page after page of listings of green gadgets and articles about them. For example, there is www.greatgreengadgets.com, www.coolgreengadgets.com, www.thegreenguide.com, and, of course, www.greengadgets.com that redirects you to www.store.greengadgets.ca. All of these sites have interesting green gadgets. Here are just a few of them:
1. There is the Fujitsu Life Book Laptop that is made from materials that are derived from corn. However, it is presently for sale only in Japan. The manufacturing process results in great energy savings, and the shell of the computer can be completely recycled. www.fujitsu.com.
2. There is the Eco Pod. The Eco Pod represents a revolutionary design in coffins that are made from naturally hardened 100% recycled paper. It is the ideal product for a non-toxic burial. You can find it at www.nigelsecostore.com.
3. There are any number of items that use solar power to recharge the batteries on cell phones or small phones or other handheld devices. For example, there is the solar cell strap from StrapYa, featuring a tiny solar cell that is about the size of a key chain. You can use it to recharge your telephone battery on your handset. This item is available at www.strapya-world.com. There is also a dock made by NRG that uses a photovoltaic panel to capture solar energy for charging personal and handheld devices at home. There are many such devices made by this company, and they can be found at www.nrgdock.com.
4. Then there is the Aion. The Aion is a multi-functional appliance which utilizes plants for their filtering and cleaning properties to provide a renewable source of cleaning water. When cooking, the plant acts as a filtering hood. When it’s time to clean up, place the dirty dishes in the sink, shut the hood and a natural cleaning cycle will begin. This gadget is not yet fully commercially available but will be available very soon. You can read more about it at www.antoinelebrun.fr. Antoine Lebrun is the designer of this futuristic Jetson-like gadget.
5. Finally, there is Sony’s new XEL-1 television which uses an organic light-omitting diode (OLED technology). It uses very little electricity and the picture on the television is incredible (much better than any HD television you have seen). The television only comes in an 11 inch model that is amazingly thin (only 3 mm.). The price is amazing as well. It costs $2,500. You can see it at www.sonystyle.com. This is the television of the future, though.
So, as usual, I was wrong There are plenty of green gadgets out there. Try some of them out.
Many of our readers have asked us about the IPhone by Apple. We played around with borrowed ones, but Bill and Phil are just too cheap and “commitment-phobic” to sign up for a long-term contract with AT&T Wireless. So we did the next best thing, we bought and tested the Ipod Touch, a very neat machine, but, as the title implies, the Touch falls a bit short in a few areas. On the whole, however, it is fun and easy to use, and it has many great features.
Basically, the Ipod Touch is an IPhone without the phone. “Why,” some of you may ask, “would you want such a thing?” There are many reasons to have one, as we are certain your kids will tell you.
First, as an IPod, it is incredible. It uses the same ultra-cool touchscreen interface used by the Iphone. It comes in three sizes: 8 MB, 16 MB, and the new 32 MB. With the touch you can easily scroll through your videos, albums and photos and watch them, listen to them, or look at them on a large crisp screen. You can rent and download whole movies. Surprisingly, watching a whole movie on the Ipod Touch is enjoyable. Playing albums (or CDs) is a snap. With the IPhone interface, you can scroll through all of your albums with a touch of the finger. It is hard to describe here, but believe us, the interface is awesome.
But it would be hard to justify the price of the Touch without the add-ons. The additional software and add-ons are what make the Touch a great addition to your gadget line up. WiFi is built into the Touch. So, if you are near a wireless network: you can log on and surf the web with a great browser, Safari; check the weather in almost any town or city; watch YouTube videos; download a map; and check and send email.
The email client on the Touch is where it falls short. It is very difficult to set it up with an Exchange Server. Once it is set up, the mail client is great. Email is easy to read. You can open almost any attachment. It handles HTML formatted emails with ease. But, again, if you try to connect to your Microsoft Exchange account, watch out. You have to use something called IMAP which makes your server more vulnerable, and the connection through the Touch is quirky (and that is putting it midly).
Nevertheless, in our opinion, the benefits of the Touch outweigh the shortcomings in the email department. All in all, it is a must-have gadget. You will not want to put it down. And if your kids ever get ahold of it, you will never see it again.
This is an update to the January 10 entry about jott.com.
There is a very cool and useful website/Internet service called Jott, http://www.jott.com/, and it is free!
Jott is a cell phone/voice recognition/reminder service that works as follows. First, you log on to http://www.jott.com/ and set up an account. Next, set up your contacts with each contact’s email address and/or phone number. After you have completed the initial setup, call 1-866-Jott-123. A voice comes on the telephone and asks the question “Who do you want to Jott?” (Ignore the grammar error.) You then dictate the message (from your phone –cell or wired) to your contact, your calendar, to folders you have set up (to do list, etc.), to a Blog or to yourself.
For example, you will be asked as follows: “Who do you want to Jott?” You will answer “Phil.” The voice will then say “Phillip Hampton, is this correct?” You will answer “Yes.” You will then hear a prompt to start dictating. You can dictate a message up to thirty (30) seconds. Then the cool part begins.
If you have dictated clearly enough (and this service is very forgiving), the Jott voice will say “Got it.” The service will then automatically send an email or a text message to the designated recipient. If the message is to yourself, it will send you a reminder email, or will place a reminder on a calendar, or will place the item in a “to do” list.
The service apparently uses a very sophisticated voice recognition system, because it very clearly and accurately converts your voice to text. I have had very few errors since I have been using Jott. For example, just to check out the service, I dictated an entry in the Bill Ramsey and Phillip Hampton Blog (http://www.thebill/andPhilShow.com) using Jott. All I had to do was tell Jott that I wanted to Jott “Blog.” Jott then created an entry for our Blog and it accurately converted my voice to text as follows:
I am dictating this Blog through a new service called Jott, http://www.jott.com/. I am posting a Blog using my cell phone and the service Jott is posting it to the web.
When your recipient receives the Jott message, the recipient also receives a recording of your message in case there is a misunderstanding.
I enjoy the service. It works great and it is free. Give it a try.
Powered by Jott
“I really need one of these when I am ‘roughing it.’”
What’s the point of relaxing at the lake or campground if you get sore lugging a packed cooler of drinks? That’s where the $499 Cruzin Cooler comes in. http://www.cruzincooler.com/
“It’s the world’s first motorized, rideable ice chest,” said Charles Pennington, director of national retail accounts for Cruzin Cooler LLC.
The Cruzin Cooler comes with a padded seat for the rider and an electric or gas motor. It can hold 27 12-ounce cans, but you can pack more in a $149 trailer cooler that hooks onto the motorized lead cooler. You supply your own ice.
An ice chest/scooter looked totally out of place at the electronics show. But Pennington noted that the product actually is ridiculous in any setting — which is why people want it. The company has sold 40,000, he said.
Two of the coolers’ specs caught our attention. One is that the driver can weigh up to 300 pounds. The other is how fast the Cruzin Cooler can cruise.
“Fourteen miles per hour,” Pennington said. “Which is haulin’ ass on an ice chest.”