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10 Reasons to Buy the New MacBook Air

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Hardware 2 Comments

Hot on the heels of the stunning iPad comes the new MacBook Air – needless to say, it’s generating a positive buzz in the laptop and netbook market. Apple has outdone itself this time; not so often do you see so much packed into such a tiny and sleek package. So if you’re looking for reasons to bring the new MacBook Air home, here they are:

It’s the lightest notebook ever built – at 2.3 pounds for the 11 inch model and 2.8 pounds for the 13 inch version, no wonder it’s been named Air.
It’s also pretty darn thin – I doubt anyone could have even imagined a notebook that’s only 0.68 inch thick.
It has flash storage, 256 GB of it (starts from 64 GB); so you don’t have to worry about hard disk crashes or slow boot times. The MacBook Air is not just as light as air, it’s also as fast as the wind.
You can now own an Apple notebook for under $1,000 – the smaller version retails at $999 and is a pretty good buy for a netbook. Even the pricier models are not expensive when you consider that they’re from Apple; in fact, they’re cheaper than most other notebooks in the same category, and yet lighter and thinner with longer battery life. So with the MacBook Air, you’re sure to get bang for your buck.
The battery life is incredible – a standby time of 30 whole days, and 5 hours of usage time for the 11.6 inch version and 7 hours for its 13.3 inch counterpart.
Double your memory size at purchase for just $100 – this option holds good for both models.
With the App store for Macs being announced, the MacBook Air allows you to install programs from the store and outside of it – in short, you don’t have to worry if applications have been approved by Apple to install them on your new notebook.
The multi-touch track pad has no buttons, so you can click anywhere on the pad and use your fingers to move windows around on your screen.
The new design looks absolutely amazing; if looks could kill, this one would.
It’s the latest and greatest thing from Apple.

So if you’ve been sulking all these days because you haven’t been able to buy the iPad, the MacBook Air more than makes up for any disappointment you may have felt. It’s as sexy as the iPad, and packs in a whole lot more. The only choice you need to make is if you want the 11.6 inch or the 13.3 inch model – but then again, you tend to wish you could take home both.

This guest post is contributed by Mark Macaluso, he writes on the topic of Masters in Accounting . He welcomes your comments at his email: mark.macaluso985@gmail.com.

Guest Post :: How to Uninstall Mac Programs

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, How Do I ...?

The following Guest Post is from David Ritchie:

With a wide variety of software that is available for your Mac, you are probably tempted to download and install many of them. With many freeware, shareware, and low-cost applications out there, you will eventually run out of disk space, no matter how big your disk drive is.

Why should you uninstall Mac programs?

There are many reasons why you might want to uninstall programs. Space constraint is one; you will have to remove programs and files you no longer want or need to free up some disk space, before you realize that there is no more physical space left on your disk! Uninstalling unwanted Mac programs is an important aspect of keeping your Mac clean so that your machine does not slow down, or freeze.

The other reason to uninstall software is to upgrade existing necessary software. Sometimes this requires a complete uninstall and reinstall. When upgrading a program from an older version to a newer version, you sometimes have to remove the old one or the new one might not work properly.

Does Mac OS X have a built-in uninstaller?

Apple Mac OS X does not come with an built-in uninstaller tool. This is because most Mac applications are packaged programs that keep most of the files together in one place. Each application is represented via an icon in the Applications folder; this might be a single file with simple software, or a folder that contains the files required for a program to work. This form of packaged software is called bundle software in Mac language.

To view package contents, hold down the Ctrl key and click on an application. From the menu options that are displayed, select the Show Package Contents option. When you select this option, a Finder window opens for you to view the files and folders that are part of the application.

How to uninstall programs in Mac?

To uninstall an application package, just drag the application icon to the Trash. Alternatively, you can hold down the Ctrl key and click on the application icon, and then choose Move to Trash from the menu that is displayed.

Note that a few applications do come with uninstallers, so before you drag the application to the Trash, check to see if one is available. Always install and uninstall software while logged on as an administrator rather than a standard user.

Will Trashing programs uninstall them completely?

Trashing a program will work if the trashed program is a packaged Mac software bundle. In this case, all the associated files are uninstalled along with the main program.

However, if your uninstalled Mac program is not a bundle, it is likely that many associated files and folders were not uninstalled along with the program. One reason for this is that programs install files in different locations; not all application files are located along with the actual program in the Applications folder, for example, customization options, preferences and options, skins, add-ons and plug-ins. A program may also cache information so that it can be accessed more easily the next time it is required, for example a web browser. Uninstalling your browser will not remove its cache files. If you do not track these rogue leftovers and remove them, your hard disk will soon starve for space and it will not matter that you did uninstall programs to make room.

How to ensure that all associated files are removed?

To ensure that all the associated program files (library files, system files, preferences) are removed, you can either manually locate and delete them, or use a third-party uninstaller such as AppTrap to do the clean up for you.

Guest Post :: Is it Time for You to Revisit Your Backup System?

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Office Management, Security, Software 1 Comment

The following Guest Post from Brooks Duncan contains great advice and helpful reminders to everyone about their backup plan(s):

You may have heard the old IT cliche "there are two types of hard drives: those that have failed, and those that will".

Fortunately, you, being the responsible Mac lawyer that you are, have protected yourself and are doing regular backups. At the very least you have Time Machine running and are backing things up to an external hard drive.

When’s the last time that you took a look at your backup process and made sure that it is still meeting your needs? In the Mac world we love things that "just work", but when it comes to backups, it pays to make sure things "still work".

Is It Tested?

Have you actually gone into your Time Machine backup and made sure that what you think is being backed up actually is? Take a look and see. Do a test restore of some key files to make sure that you can get what you need when you need it.

Go into the Time Machine preferences and make sure you didn’t accidentally exclude something that should be backed up.

If you’re using something else other than Time Machine, it’s the same deal. Test test test to make sure that you can restore. I like what the CEO of Carbonite, an online backup provider, has to say on the subject: "I like to say that Carbonite is not in the backup business ‚ we are in the restore business".

Is It Redundant?

The hard drive that you are copying your files to can fail just as easily as the one you are backing up. Consider having your files backed up to a storage device such as a Drobo or a Netgear ReadyNAS that contains multiple redundant hard drives. Throw in four 1 or 2 Terabyte drives, and if one of them fails, you just take it out and replace it. Your data is still safe.

Is It Offsite?

For your really important files, having them backed up in your office isn’t good enough. All the hard drive crash protection in the world won’t help you if you have a fire, flood, or theft. You need to back them up offsite.

One option is to save them to a hard drive or DVD(s) and take them to another location. This will work, but I am suspect of any backup process that involves doing something manually. It leaves too much open to human error.

A possibly better option is to use online backup. Your critical files will be backed up transparently to a secure online location and won’t take any manual intervention. There are many vendors, but Mozy and Crashplan are two to check out.

Is It The Right Online Plan?

You may already be using online backup, but make sure that your backup provider also supports backing up network storage. You want to be able to back up all your critical files, not just the ones on a local computer.

Is It Tested?

Didn’t I already cover this? Yes, yes I did. However, testing your backups needs to be a regular occurrence, not something that you do just once.

Conclusion

Congratulations on having a backup routine set up. You’re already ahead of 90% of computer users. If you test your backups regularly and take some time to revisit your backup strategy at least once a year, your files will be rock solid.

Source: Brooks Duncan runs DocumentSnap, a website devoted to going paperless. He helps people unclutter and de-stress by turning their piles of paper into an organized electronic system. He would be pretty happy to be able to write about Mac stuff every day.

Guest Post :: Software Essentials for Mac Attorneys

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Software 1 Comment

The following Guest Post from Angelita Williams discusses several popular software program for Mac-using lawyers:

TrialSmart

From Clarity Legal comes TrialSmart, a comprehensive trial presentation software. This legal application makes it possible for lawyers to review, analyze, and present electronic legal transcripts with ease. Transcripts from a case can also be imported and annotated, and users can run reports on them with just a click of the mouse. Reports can be exported to text, Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel files. To establish a sound argument in the courtroom, documents, exhibits, and video can be attached and synchronized to transcripts for jury presentation through the software’s video editor. TrialSmart supports all video QuickTime formats and allows for clips to be exported to presentation software like Keynote and PowerPoint. Other features like TrialSmart’s Bulk Designation Editor, group reports, resizable video windows, saved layering, and PDF text searching make this software all lawyers need to effectively build their case.

3D Timeline

Lawyers can make sure that the most important details of a case come across clearly with this software from Bee Docs. 3D Timeline gives users the ability to present information, details, and events in context through interactive timelines. This Mac OS X software is an excellent tool for lawyers who want to create timelines for trial exhibits that give viewers a 3D perspective on a significant chain of events. Timelines can be as informative as possible, as users can add pictures, Web pages, notes, and other files to them. Not only can lawyers use timelines to visually uncover connections and display relationships, they can use them to tell a story in a way that reveals the truth.

Law Stream

Lawyers who need help managing their time, money, contacts, and other information, should look into LawStream. This law office management software not only helps lawyers manage the essentials of a business, but allows them to customize projects and files, as well as the information and data that they contain. LawStream assists with time management helping lawyers organize their schedules, reference to-do lists, record services, and keep up with meetings and deadlines. Lawyers can also simplify their finances with features that allow them to keep track of money that is coming in and out of their practices, and record time spent with each client. Most importantly this software helps lawyers manage information about contacts, by allowing them to record phone numbers and e-mails, as well as any work that has been completed on projects pertaining to them. To find out where there most valuable business comes from, users can run a "client dedicated report" to see which customers they are working for the most and giving them the most income.

MacSpeech Dictate Legal

Lawyers who are looking for a new way to interact with their Mac can find it in MacSpeech Dictate Legal. This speech recognition software makes it possible for lawyers to increase productivity by using their voices to input text and command their computers operations. Specifically made those working in the law field, more than 30,000 legal words and terms can be understood and supported by this software. If the software comes across a word it does not recognize, the Vocabulary Editor allows users to train individual words and add new ones. When it comes to laborious legal writing tasks, lawyers no longer have to spend hours typing away but can now dictate with ease. They can also have recorded dictation transcribed for them using MacSpeech Scribe Legal. With up to a 99 percent accuracy rate, this software rarely misspells a word or misses a typo. Dictate Legal works with almost any Mac application that uses text, such as Keynote, iChat, iPhoto, Mail, Microsoft Word, and Apple’s Text Edit.

Source: This guest post is contributed by Angelita Williams, who writes on the topics of college courses. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: angelita.williams7 @gmail.com.

Guest Post :: Is Cloud Storage Secure Enough For Lawyers?

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Online Resources, Software, Technology 13 Comments

The following Guest Post is from my friend and technology wizard, Tomasz Stasiuk:

There is a widening divide among lawyers: those who embrace cloud based services because of the advantages they provide (distributed off site storage, synchronization, and access) and those who are justifiably concerned about putting clients’ documents into someone else’s hands.

Using cloud based service raises issues of security, control, and trust.

How are the files protected?
Where are they located and who has access?
Do you trust the provider?

It may seem naive to talk about trust. "Trust NO ONE" some lawyers shout. However, even solo practitioners have to trust someone. If you do not own your office, you trust your landlord not to riffle through your documents. As a firm grows, trust becomes more important. You trust your staff to keep confidences. You trust their families not to look too closely at documents on desks. You trust your cleaning staff, copier technician, plumber, or your landlord’s HVAC servicer not to listen in on discussions, look over papers or take documents. You trust that someone will not walk in off the street during business hours and take a file.

Still don’t think trust is a big factor in your day-to-day operations in a law office? Do you use a service for storing closed files? You know the drill: you put the files into a cardboard box. cover it with a lid, then you give them to a man who takes them away. You have just given all your client’s confidential records, medical information, social security number, to some guy in a jumpsuit, secured with nothing more than an ill fitting cardboard lid.

You have just given up control of the files. You have given up security for the client information. You are relying that the trust you have put in the storage company and it’s employees and contractors is not misplaced.

The seldom discussed fact of law offices is that you rely on trust A LOT to maintain confidences. And the people you trust could more easily disclose client confidences than any cloud based service provider.

Let’s look at the other two big issues in using a cloud based service: security and control. Security is always a matter of asking, "as compared to what?" When looking at cloud based storage it is important to consider how it stacks up against other storage options.

PAPER BASED FILES

At one end of the spectrum are pure paper based files. These are inherently less secure since each page is often the sole repository of the information it contains. Paper based files often have no redundancy. Nobody "backs up" paper. The file is "THE" file. If any page is destroyed, the information on it is gone. One fire, one storm, one burglary and it all could be gone. Forever!

Oh, you may be able to recreate part of the file: you may be able to get pleadings from the court, medical records from the doctor. However, this is not a solution. Recreating a file takes a lot of leg work, and there is no guarantee that you will get everything you had before.

What about the security of paper? There is none. Zero. Zip. Paper itself has no security: you cannot encrypt paper. If you have access to the physical file, you have access to the information in the file.

Continue reading→

Guest Post :: Why Do People Love to Hate iProducts?

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts 3 Comments

There’s no doubt that an iGadget is a sort of status symbol today. However, at the other end of the spectrum, the motto seems to be – if you don’t own an iProduct, you must absolutely hate them. I’ve never seen anyone straddle the line or take a conciliatory stance – you either love Apple or you hate it.

For the lovebirds, it’s the loyalty factor that kicks in – if your first product was an Apple, you’re probably still sticking with the iOfferings because they’re great on quality even if they’re not so great on price. Also, if you’re enamored by the buzz that always surrounds an Apple product, you’re never going to buy anything else.

However, people who are not iGadget owners probably have a bone to pick with Steve Jobs and his company and go all out in hating what they have to offer because:

Of sour grapes mentality: If there’s one thing that can be said strongly about Apple, it’s that its products stand out in terms of quality. You have to admit, even if grudgingly, that there is no compromise when it comes to quality. Even the smallest iShuffle with the minimum options offers a better experience than other MP3 players that come with all the bells and whistles like a touchscreen or more memory space. So it’s only natural that people with these other products love to hate Apple – it’s just a case of sour grapes.
They cannot afford the price: In spite of all the benefits Apple’s products offer, they’re still a little pricey and not easily affordable. So yes, there are people who secretly lust after the iPad and the iOS4 iPhone, but because they’re unable to afford the asking rate, they prefer to badmouth it and say they don’t like any of Apple’s offerings.
It’s the only way they can project their gadgets as better: And finally, how else are people going to claim that their products are way better than any of Apple’s gadgets if they don’t declare that they hate any gizmo that is tagged with the (in)famous “i”? They look for small quality-related issues that are bound to crop up with any new product, and immediately jump on the “I hate iProducts” bandwagon claiming simultaneously that this is why their brands are better.

Apple’s problems arise because it has set a standard for quality, one that it has to achieve and surpass every time it comes out with a new product. So even if it fails just a little bit, it’s bound to be maligned and hated by people who, to put it simply, love to hate Apple.

This guest post is contributed by Omar Adams. He writes on the topic of online accounting degrees. He welcomes your comments at omaradams47@gmail.com.

Guest Post :: 5 Essential iPad Apps for Students

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, iPad, Software 2 Comments

Apple’s newest toy is for more than just games, books, and Internet browsing. It has the potential for greatness in law school as well. Law students can use the iPad to take notes, study, share multimedia, and more. These apps make the iPad a perfect companion for law school:

Black’s Law Dictionary :: At $49.99, this app is an expensive one, but it’s worth it. The app offers full access to Black’s Law Dictionary, including a handy search interface, audio clip pronunciations, and citations linked to Westlaw pages. You may not be ready to ditch your leather-bound copy of this dictionary in favor of the iPad app, but it’s certainly handier to cart around campus.
LawStack :: Would you like to be able to carry around the Constitution, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, and more, all in one handy place on your iPad? LegalStack makes it possible to have nearly an entire legal library in your pocket, with plenty of preloaded law books included, as well as state codes and more that you can add to your stack. You’ll get offline access, search, bookmarks, and more. Best of all, this app is completely free.
LexisNexis :: Using the LexisNexis app, you can retrieve cases on the go. If you need a quick glance, you can just use the Case Brief to get an overview right away. This app has favorites and a search history, so you can go back and learn about important cases easily. You’ll also be able to share what you’ve found with classmates, colleagues, and professors.
iStudiez Pro :: Use iStudiez Pro to reclaim your sanity while you’re in law school. This app will allow you to get organized in a major way, keeping your assignments, dates, schedule, and more all in one place and easily accessible. You can also set up alarms, color coding, and a summarization of your day.
Legal Ease :: When it’s time to take the Multistate Bar Exam, turn to this app that can make studying a little less painful. In Legal Ease, you’ll find 800 attorney-authored questions that will help you review everything you need to know. They’re offered in a flashcard style with detailed explanations for all answers. You’ll be able to review questions, create practice tests, and see how well you do in particular subjects. This app is even helpful for current law students who want to study and be quizzed on a particular subject of law.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for law students with iPads. Check out the iTunes site or just search the app store on your iPad to find out what other goodies are available for you to take advantage of.

This guest post is contributed by Roger Elmore. He welcomes your comments at his email Id: rogerelmore24@gmail.com.

Guest Post :: How to Choose Between a Book, a Kindle, and an iPad (Part Three)

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Hardware, iPad, Technology 5 Comments

In April, when the iPad came out, I offered to conduct an experiment forBen Stevens’ The Mac Lawyer blog. The plan: read a traditional book, a second on a Kindle, and a third on an iPad, then write about it. Over the past year I’d been used to reading primarily on my Kindle and the occasional tree-based book, and was interested in figuring out the new publishing terrain once and for all.

Part 3: The iPad Book: The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane

A big thanks is in order to Dennis Lehane, who wrote one of the best and most compelling novels I’ve read in years, if not ever. The Given Day is a book so gripping and phenomenal, I was able to read it on an iPad without succumbing to sweet Internet temptations lurking just beyond the home button on the gorgeous device.

Pros: While the iPad does not leverage E-ink, a tough blow in my opinion as far as e-readers are concerned, it does have a high-resolution backlit screen which enables you to read it in dark places (i.e. while someone is asleep next to you) without a Snuggie® booklight or similar device. I combatted LCD screen eye strain by dimming its brightness and changing the font to a muted sepia-tone color, which Apple does a great job of facilitating.

The iPad reference tools are terrific: tapping a word looks it up in the dictionary, a huge improvement over the Kindle’s medieval cursor device. If Apple supported multiple language dictionaries (only Japanese and English are currently available), it would be a great teaching aid for foreign language study. Flipping through pages is elegant and quick. Much appreciated Apple-style flourishes like 3D page turning is a significant improvement over Next and Previous buttons on a Kindle.

Cons: Forget about reading on your iPad outside unless you carry a tent with you everywhere you go. The glare from the sun and reflective objects makes reading on an iPad an uncomfortable endeavor in bright light. The LCD screen does not feel like a book at all, unlike E-ink. The iPad is also much heavier than the Kindle 2, making it a challenge to read in bed. As you adjust your reading position, the screen rotates around like a whirling dervish, making reading on your side rather tricky. This flipping back and forth is eliminated by a tiny screen lock button, which took me a month to figure out.

If, like me, you struggle to focus on a single task and do not have an incredible book to read like The Given Day, good luck trying to read it on an iPad. You’ll instead find yourself enjoying any one of the amazing capabilities the device offers.

Finally, In Order of Preference

The clear take-home message to me from this overly-prolonged experiment in 21st century reading is that different book technologies serve very different purposes. All things being equal, my top choice is a paper book in my hands as long as the font is a comfortable size (anyone who’s picked up a copy of Atlas Shrugged recently understands my pain). The ability to leaf through pages, scribble in margins with an actual pencil, and dog-ear pages still trounce their simulated equivalents in e-readers.

After a book, I’d choose the Kindle. It’s lightweight, works in any lighting condition, and doesn’t have all the distractions the Internet brings to the table. It’s a dedicated reading device, and though it’s a little clumsy in places, it does its job exceedingly well.

Then there’s the iPad. It was a worthy contestent in a noble contest, and I wouldn’t live without mine. However, when it comes to evaluating the product strictly for reading, I don’t see myself reading another book on the iPad. You can’t take it outside, it’s heavier than the other reading technologies (though perhaps lighter than the hardcover edition of Atlas Shrugged), and uses an LCD screen instead of E-ink. Moreover, everything that makes the iPad an phenomenal media and Internet consumption device work against it when you require the deep concentration necessary for books.

But that’s just my take. We’re lucky to live in a world with such options, with three remarkable technologies.

About the Author

Larry Port is the Founding Partner of Rocket Matter, the leading web-based legal practice management product. A speaker and award-winning writer at the crossroads of the legal profession and cutting edge technology, Larry writes extensively for legal publications including Law Technology News, Law Practice Today, ILTA’s Peer to Peer, FindLaw, Chicago Lawyer, and others.

Guest Post :: How to Choose Between a Book, a Kindle, and an iPad (Part Two)

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Hardware, iPad, Technology 3 Comments

Part 2 of 3: Failure and Redemption with an iPad and a Kindle.

In Part 1 of this series, I announced my intention to test all three reading technologies via Lian Hearn’s Tales of the Otori trilogy. I read the first volume as a paper-based library book, but I apologize in advance to Mr. Hearn. I just couldn’t get through the second book in the series, Grass For His Pillow, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it doesn’t have to do with his prose.

The iPad contains two great book-reading apps, iBooks from Apple and Kindle from Amazon. Unfortunately, the iPad also contains a zillion other apps that tug at your attention, including access to practically all of the information ever recorded by civilized man, email, news, streaming Netflix movies, and every social network imaginable.

If you’re like me, which is a stone’s throw away from an official ADD diagnosis, it may be difficult to finish book on an iPad unless it’s completely engrossing. The device is just so dang incredible. I finally found such a book, so stay tuned to Part 3 to find out the killer read which helped me overcome the allure of iPad amazingness. In the meantime, I switched back, bewildered and dispirited, to the Kindle.

The Kindle Book: Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life, by Steve Martin

If you like Steve Martin, appreciate the art of stand-up comedy, or ever wondered what it feels like to get very, very famous quickly, Born Standing Up is a book you should put on your list. I read the majority of it on my Kindle 2 and a small amount on my iPhone 3G.

Pros: The Kindle was my first electronic book reader, and for a technophile like myself it will forever occupy a special place in my heart, as do other fondly-recalled first-time experiences. Compared to an iPad or a book, the Kindle is much lighter at 10.2 ounces. Book shopping and delivery is quick and effortless, because in reality the Kindle is a portable spigot through which you pour dollars into Amazon. For example, I decided to purchase Mr. Martin’s book at an airport minutes from boarding my flight. Twelve dollars and sixty seconds later, the book arrived and so I could read it on the flight.

The Kindle screen, leveraging a proprietary technology known as E-ink, does not have a refresh-rate associated with LCD screens, which makes it easier on the eyes by eliminating strain and reducing glare. I happen to be partial to devices that do one thing really well as opposed to a device that performs multiple functions fairly well. The Kindle is definitely in the former category: aside from serving as a terrific reading device, the only other thing it excels at is sucking money from your pocket and sending it to Amazon. And you have to see the battery charge to believe it. I picked mine up after a month of idleness and it was still on.

An aside about e-readers in general, including both the Kindle and iPad…

E-readers are great traveling companions. I like to read different kinds of books depending on my current whimsy, and with an e-reader, I can keep a biography, spy thriller, historical fiction, and business book with me at all times without my carry-on weighing 100 pounds. I can also increase the font size for easier readability, critical as I head towards forty. I’ve noticed e-reader adoption among the elderly, incidentally, in my heavily retiree-laden town of Boca Raton, FL.

Because of the mobile Kindle and iBook apps, and the mechanism Amazon and Apple use to maintain your bookmarks, you can always be with your book. For example, I read my book at night on my e-reader and the following morning use the corresponding iPhone app to flick through some more pages at the exact place I left off the night before while, say, waiting in line for coffee. At night, I pick up exactly where I left off at Starbucks on my e-reader. Now that’s cool, although, my inner civil-libertarian bristles at the thought that Amazon and Apple now know exactly what I’m reading, when, and where.

…Back to the Kindle…

Cons: The biggest con I see with the Kindle or other book readers is the following conversation:

Husband: This book I’m reading is incredible! I can’t put it down.

Wife: Wow. I can’t wait to read it. Can I have it when you’re done?

Husband: Sorry, it’s on the Kindle. And I’m reading something else next.

Wife: That’s so typical. You’re always so damn selfish.

Some headway has been made into sharing books on e-readers, but any features are buried deep enough so that I haven’t stumbled across it. Another general strike against e-readers is their limited portability. I still feel uncomfortable taking a pricey e-reader to a beach or pool, since water and sand wreak havoc on electronic devices.

Compared to other modern electronic machines, the Kindle 2 feels glacially slow. At the risk of sounding like a plump, lazy cruise-ship passenger, moving the little cursor around is an arduous task. Page turns are inelegant: the entire text flashes black before it’s replaced by the next page. Flipping through pages to reread a passage is time consuming and laborious, especially compare to a paper book. The Kindle 2 very much feels like a first generation device.

In the next installment, I’ll return to the iPad. Perhaps I’ll fare better the second time around.

About the Author

Guest Post :: How to Choose Between a Book, a Kindle, and an iPad (Part One)

Posted on August 23, 2010 by Ben Stevens Posted in Guest Posts, Hardware, iPad, Technology 2 Comments

Part 1 of 3: Adventures in Reading a Library Book.

Are you like me? Do you like to read books, travel a fair amount, and like to justify expenditures on technology in whatever pathetic, desperate way you can?

In April, when the iPad came out, I offered to conduct an experiment for Ben Stevens’ The Mac Lawyer blog. The plan: read a traditional book, a second on a Kindle, and a third on an iPad, then write about it. Over the past year I’d been used to reading primarily on my Kindle and the occasional tree-based book, and was interested in figuring out the new publishing terrain once and for all.

The Library Book: Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn.

My intention, initially, was to read three volumes of Lian Hearn’s Tales of the Otori trilogy on each of the three different technologies (yes, a book is a technology). If you think you’d like Shogun with a dash of 100 Years of Solitude sprinkled in, you’ll like Mr. Hearn’s books.

Pros: I paid nothing for Across the Nightingale Floor, since I borrowed it from the public library and importantly, returned it on time, which is something you shouldn’t take for granted. I took this book on a plane with me, and since it’s not electronic, I could actually do something without getting yelled at during takeoff and landing.

I enjoyed the volume’s delightful “library book smell” which I believe originates from a combination of binding glue, paper, card catalog stickers, and the librarians themselves. I could theoretically spill water or sand on the book and it would still function fine, though librarians typically frown upon such behavior. Moreover, after using an electronic device all day long, curling up with a paper, analog device was more refreshing than I recalled.

Cons: I finished the book shortly after my arrival, meaning I had to lug dead weight around on my trip. Since I was obligated to return it, I couldn’t just dump it in the hotel’s book rack. In addition, when you read a library book, there’s a little voice in the back of your head whispering bad thoughts. It tells you someone could possibly have been reading the very book in your hands in less-than-delicate locations. Unlike an e-book, a library book requires an extra piece of equipment (some folks call this a “bookmark”) to identify my last read page, which I seem to always misplace.

In the next installment, I’ll attempt to read a book on an iPad. And we’ll see how successful I am.

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