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There are times when even I hit the Technology Threshold of Pain - that point where no matter how good it looks or how well it works, you just can't absorb any more. I hit that wall hard at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year. I felt like the proverbial "kid in the candy store," with about 150,000 people viewing 2,700 exhibits spread over 1.7 million square feet. That's about 30 football fields of high tech!
So what's a lawyer doing at CES? I was looking for new tools and techniques to help us, as lawyers, run better offices and improve service to our clients. I found some of that, and a lot more. Over the next few months my columns will focus on some of what I learned from attending CES.
To start, let's take a look at the new Apple iPhone. It is a slick device by any standard. However, it's not going to be available until the summer. Will the actual product merit the pre- production hype? The phone is going to be expensive - about $500. It will make phone calls, play music, take pictures and play movies. It can also carry notes or your schedule, if you have the right software to link to your office computer system. But do you need it? I have a 4-year-old Kyocera 7135 phone that does all those things, except take pictures and play videos. And if I upgrade to a Palm Treo, I can have the same basic features as the iPhone. I fear we're being pushed hard by media hype to buy new products - whether we need them or not. I'm betting that many readers have fancy phones with all the bells and whistles, and many of those features are still mysteries buried deep in a voluminous manual. My advice: take your time. Examine your needs and don't buy more technology than you can absorb and use effectively in your practice.
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