Category Archives: Hardware

Happy Birthday to the Mac

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Twenty-four years ago today (Jan. 24, 1984), Apple released the original Macintosh computer (pictured at right).  It was revolutionary at the time, as the Macintosh was the first commercially successful personal computer to use a mouse and a graphical user interface.  For the youngsters out there, prior to that time, computers operated via the use of text characters, i.e. typing commands instead of pointing and clicking.

Original_macintoshApple famously announced the Mac’s arrival during a commercial aired on January 22, 1984, during Super Bowl XVIII.  That commercial pictured a woman hurling a sledgehammer at a huge "big-brother" like video screen, which represented IBM, manufacturer of the dominant computers of that time.  The video was directed by Ridley Scott, who would later become famous for major motion pictures such as Blade Runner, Gladiator, and Alien, among others.

Of course, over the last twenty-four years, there have been some ups and downs for Apple, but today many experts (including me) believe that Apple makes the best personal computer on the market today.  Apple is constantly breaking new ground with both their operating systems, software, and stunningly beautiful hardware.  As a tribute to the Mac, I have pasted the original "1984" commercial below, and I look forward to what Apple has in store for us over the next twenty-four years.

MacSparky’s Thoughts About MacWorld

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One of my favorite Mac legal bloggers, Macsparky
David Sparks, attended this year’s Macworld Conference & Expo, and he recently published the following thoughts about it at MacSparky:

In addition to being an affirmed Mac geek, I am also a lawyer.  So as I spent the last several days talking to developers and roaming the halls of Macworld, a few things in particular got me excited about practicing law with my Mac.

Macbook Air

Apple’s new machine is a real eye catcher.  It is just three pounds and manages to keep a 13 inch monitor.  While this would be really nice for the roadwarrior or running around in depositions and trial, the $1800 price tag makes me look twice.  If you really need thin and are willing to sacrifice a bit of functionality (no ethernet or firewire) you may want to check it out.  I’m sticking with my Macbook Pro for the time being.

MacSpeech

For those of you former PC users who miss having DragonDictate in your toolbelt, fret no more.  I was never a big fan of iListen, but the folks at at iListen recently acquired the license for the Dragon recognition engine for use on the Mac.  Their new product, MacSpeech Dictate will be releasing next month and looks fantastic.  I spent about an hour at their booth and am very impressed.  I also watched David Pogue fawn over it as it produced very accurate and quick results.

I wasn’t alone in my opinion that this product will change things.  It was one of the "Best of Show" award winners by several publications.  Put this one at the top of your list for productivity boosters.

OmniFocus

I’m a big fan of the Omni Group applications.  I use OmniOutline, OmniPlan, and OmniGraffle to manage much of my caseload.  I got in early on the beta of their OmniFocus task management application and it was just released as a 1.0.  This application is fantastic for keeping all the plates in the air.  I did an extended review of it at Macsparky.com.

I talked to the folks at Omni and they are going to do everything in their power to get these applications on the iPhone once the iPhone SDK releases.

BusySync

For the small offices that don’t need the expense of a server but want to sync iCal calendars between multiple desks, there is a great little application called BusySync.  For a cost of $20 per computer, you get seamless bonjour and net syncing between machines.  They have a new version due out soon that will also allow for Google calendar syncing.

Bento

FileMaker is the best application for database intensive solutions.  If you are running a small practice, FileMaker’s smaller application, Bento, looks really robust.

Billings and Daylite

Marketcircle continues its place at the top of small office management software.  They had a nice booth and made regular presentations.  I was unaware of some of their interesting add-on products like Daylite Delivery and the FileMaker connector.  These guys fill a very particular niche.

Fujitsu ScanSnap

I love my Fujitsu ScanSnap.  It is a reliable, fast scanner with a small footprint.  Now they have a portable version, the S300M, that retails at $295 and looks perfect for those depositions on the other side of the country.

Smart Board

Smart Technologies has a very impressive device you install over your LCD television that allows you to create a virtual white board like you are John Madden.  The price point is steep.  I was told "around $5,000" but it sure is nice.

Storage – Drobo and TimeCapsule

While TimeCapsule is aimed as a consumer device, 1TB storage with a built in wireless "N" router is a pretty attractive product.

I was also impressed with the Drobo that allows you to drop up to four swappable drives in with no headache.  Interestingly, if you pull out a drive while it is running (or if the drive dies), Drobo automatically moves the data around to protect its integrity.  The Drobo device costs $500 without any drives.

For all of you Mac lawyers, I highly recommend visiting Macworld sometime when you get a chance.  Not only will you find some great tools for your practice, you’ll probably have a good time while you are at it.

Source:  "A Lawyer’s Take on Macworld" by David Sparks, published at MacSparky.

MacBook Air :: Thin Is In!

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Apple introduced its ultra-compact laptop, the MacBook Air, at MacWorld yesterday.  Billed as "the world’s thinnest notebook," it is a full-size notebook measuring only 0.16 to 0.76 inches thick and weighing just 3.0 pounds.  It comes with an LED backlit display comes standard, and a solid-state hard drive is optional.

I think that this new notebook computer looks incredibly cool, and those wanting a light, thin, cool laptop should look no further.  Some may lament the lack of a built-in CD/DVD drive, but the new Remote Disk function and optional external drive should serve the needs of almost everyone.  I have included a video below that shows Walt Mossberg‘s first impressions of the MacBook Air.

Review of New iMacs

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A few weeks ago, Apple unveiled its newly redesigned iMac computers.  AppleInsider published an in-depth review of the new iMac, including several high resolution photos.  If you are considering getting an iMac, if you want to be convinced to get one, or if you’re just curious, click HERE to read their review.

Source:  "Review: Apple’s New 24-Inch iMac (Aluminum)" by Aidan Malley, published at AppleInsider.

Make That Old Printer Young Again

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Do you have an old printer sitting around that you would like to use?  Back when I was using PCs, I had a Kyocera FS-1200 printer that was great.  It produced high-quality pages at a very fast speed — pretty much all you could ask for from a printer.  The problem is that there is not a driver to use this printer with Mac OS X Tiger.

Yesterday, I decided that perhaps it was time to use this printer as something other than a place to stack legal magazines to be read "one day."  I spent less than five minutes searching online, when I found this article in the MacWorld forums.  It discusses a generic printer driver that can be used to operate over 500 older printers from various manufacturers, including Brother, Epson, HP, Samsung, and my FS-1200.

I spent approximately five more minutes downloading and installing this driver, and now my old PC printer works like a charm with my MacBook.  If you need a driver for an older printer, check out this article and chances are it will solve your problem.  In less than ten total minutes, my old printer was revived and is now printing as good as new.

Source:  "Found an OS X Printer Driver for Old Printers" posted in the MacWorld forums.

iMac vs. Mac mini

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I have had several conversations with people over the past few weeks discussing which desktop Mac I would recommend for the law office.  I have two Mac minis in my office, but the iMacs are excellent machines.

A post today at Mac360 addresses the iMac vs. mini debate.  That article concludes that "dollar for dollar, feature for feature, the iMac is actually a better value than a Mac mini, even at twice the price. But if your need for feature parity are less, then the Mac mini saves you plenty of money."

Source:  "Mac mini vs. iMac: A Good Value Or An Expensive Toy?" by Kate MacKenzie, published at Mac360.

Apple Announces Updates to Software, iMacs, and More

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At a press conference yesterday, Apple announced several significant improvements to its hardware and software offerings.  Several of these are significant for attorneys interested in or already using Macs in their offices. 

Software  ::  Apple’s office suite, iWork ’08, is new and greatly improved, and it may now be a viable alternative to Microsoft Office. 

  • Numbers ’08  ::  iWork now features a spreadsheet program.  It is not as fancy as Excel, but it looks as though it will do everything that most attorneys will need, and it does them very simply and easily.
  • Pages ’08  ::  Apple’s word processor received many updates, including the addition of change tracking.  This program not only does word processing, but it also serves handles page layouts well.
  • Keynote ’08  ::  I believe that Keynote was already vastly superior to PowerPoint before this update.  Not only are there new templates, but Apple has included fantastic new text and transition effects and voice casting.

Hardware:

  • iMacs  ::  The revised iMac features a thinner body, faster chips, a new keyboard layout, and lower prices.
  • Mac mini  ::  Despite rumors that it was being discontinued, the Mac mini lives on.  It received a small speed bump and Core 2 Duo chip.

Other:

Sources:  "Apple’s iWork ’08: The Office For The Rest Of Us" by Ron McElfresh, published at Mac360 and "Apple’s August Announcements – What Was Really Important" by Chris Kerins, published at My First Mac.

How to Use the PC Version of the Fujitsu ScanSnap With Your Mac

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I previously posted about my fondness for the Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner.  What I didn’t mention was that my particular ScanSnap (model 5110EOX2) is actually a holdover from my old PC-using days.  I had this scanner for roughly a year before I moved my office to Macs two years ago.

Some time after that, Fujitsu released a Mac-specific (white) version of the ScanSnap.  However, many people want to use the PC (black) model with their Macs — either because they already owned one before the Mac version was released or or because the PC version is slightly less expensive than it’s white cousin.

Both models work basically the same.  They both come with the full version of Adobe Acrobat, and they both work quickly and efficiently.  However, there is a difference that I want to address in this article.  The Mac driver for the black (PC) version is only available in Japanese.  Domo Arigato! 

All of the features work just fine, but nothing is in English, which makes it a bit tricky figuring out certain things.  Fortunately, all of the dialog boxes are in the same places as shown in the English manual, but it’s not practical to keep that on hand in case you need it.

Never fear though, there is a solution to this situation which enables you to load the Japanese drivers and then convert them to English.  The following instructions walk you through this process step-by-step:

  1. Download the English and
    Japanese versions of the ScanSnap software from Fujitsu (be sure to
    download the correct version for your Mac, Intel or PPC).

  2. Mount the Japenese disk image (V20L22.dmg) and install (just keep
    clicking the blue button on the right hand side to advance the
    installation).
  3. After installation, unmount the Japanese image to avoid confusion later on.
  4. Mount the English disk image (V20L20.dmg) but DO NOT install it.
  5. Open the English disk image (you should see a file named "ScanSnap_V20L11" or "ScanSnap_V20L11.pkg").
  6. Right-Click (control-click) on that image and select "Show Package Contents".
  7. Open the "Contents" folder and open the "Resources" folder.
  8. Locate the file called "ScanSnap_V20L11.pax.gz" and double-click on it.
  9. After it has unarchived the file, a ScanSnap folder should now appear on your desktop. Open it.
  10. In this folder, you should see the "ScanSnap Manager" which shows
    the WHITE version of the scanner.  Right-Click (control-click) on the application and
    select "Show Package Contents".
  11. Open the "Contents" folder and open the "Resources" folder.
  12. Locate the folder called "English.lproj" and copy this folder to a safe place (like your Desktop).
  13. At this point, it will help you avoid clutter and confusion by closing all of the various open windows.
  14. Go to your Applications folder, find the ScanSnap folder there, and open it.
  15. In this folder, locate the "ScanSnap Manager" which shows
    the BLACK version of the scanner, which is the Japenese version that needs to be change. Right-Click (control-click) on the application and select "Show
    Package Contents".
  16. Open the "Contents" folder and open the "Resources" folder.
  17. Copy the "English.lproj" that you just extracted to this folder.
  18. Voila! You should now have support for multiple Fujitsu ScanSnap scanners with English localization!

Source:  "ScanSnap fi-5110EOX for Macintosh" thread in the MaxOSXHints Forums.

Which to Buy :: MacBook vs. MacBook Pro

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People often ask me which is better — the MacBook or the MacBook Pro?  As I have previously posted, I opted for the MacBook, and I have been very satisfied with my choice.  Of course, I do miss the backlit keyboard that comes with the MacBook Pro (and my old PowerBook), but I remind myself that that one minor feature didn’t justify the price difference — at least not to me.

Tim Bray, who works at Sun Microsystems, recently published an article in which he discusses his decision to go with the MacBook instead of its bigger silver brother.  Among the reasons he loves his black MacBook are its longer battery life, great WiFi reception, smaller size, durability, and cool look.  He goes so far as to state that "at this point anyone who buys a silver Mac is making a big mistake."  If you’re currently debating which Mac laptop to purchase, you may want to check out his article.

Source:  "Unprofessional in Black" by Tim Bray, published at his Ongoing blog.

Apple Outlet Offers Macs for Less

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Apple has opened its Apple Outlet, which was formerly known as the "Special Deals" section of its online Apple Store.  This site is the place to shop for certified and refurbished Apple products at discounted prices.  Apple tests and certifies all refurbished products, and they all include a 1-year warranty.  I have bought products from the Apple Outlet before, and I have always been well satisfied with their products.

The Apple Outlet is organized into the following sections:

  • Refurbished Mac  ::  Shop Apple-certified Mac desktops and notebooks at once-in-a-lifetime prices.
  • Clearance Items  ::  Get discount prices on new, unopened products from Apple and other manufacturers.
  • Big Deals  ::  See special offers, promotions, and other great deals available for a limited time only.
  • Refurbished iPod  ::  Find deals on the Apple-certified iPod, iPod nano, or iPod shuffle you’ve always wanted.

Source:  "Apple Launches the Apple Outlet" published at the Switch To A Mac blog.