When I am standing in front of a Judge on a busy calendar, looking through my calendar on my iPhone, it is painful. Solution: iPad. Working on documents in Pages (while waiting my turn on that same busy calendar) is not even an option.  Solution: iPad. Taking notes with clients on a laptop creates a physical barrier. Solution: iPad.  I can think of a dozen other reasons to see this as a great addition to our all Apple office. It isn’t perfect but it is cheaper than the first iPhone and will be much more useful.

I would still love to see Circus Ponies work on iPhone/iPad. I am not quite sure how it would be implemented. I have a Notebook for each client matter and viewing those Notebooks in a cloud solution, without opening Notebook, leaves me looking in a folder of jumbled mess.  I am thinking of taking another pass at Evernote and seeing how that might work. I know Ben over at Mac Lawyer enjoys using Evernote. And Evernote already has an iPhone app (which means it will work on the iPad).

I look forward to sharing with my readers the adventures with this new piece of Mac Hardware and tracking the changes it will bring to our office life.

In other news, another SaaS PM product popped up. According to Singer (The Mac Grand Daddy) this one is for Criminal Defense Practice (oh boy!). The company is Top Dog Legal. You can check it out here. If you have already taken this out for a spin, let me know in the comments or shoot me an email: apelley at gmail dot com.

So many new Law Practice Management Options, so little time.

1. When you lick the phone, it tastes like chocolate
2. New green light app overrides traffic signals for more efficient commute
3. Phone also works as keyless remote for Lamborghini included with purchase
4. No more porn filters
5. Phone cost: Free. Software cost: Free. And Ballmer pays half the monthly plan out of his own personal fortune
6. Puppy-cam offers live streaming of adorable golden retriever delivered free to your home
7. Embedded security chip allows user to bypass all airport security lines
8. Free replacement phone, no questions asked, if dropped in toilet
9. Remote control TV app digitally erases Justin Long from those annoying Mac ads
10. Dancing Ballmer screen saver (clothing optional)

You can read Brian’s article here.

Update: How about that? Turns out Ballmer just held up an Apple for the conference. Great call!

Update: Voice invites are gone.

To be honest, I have mixed feeling about Apple Care. We have been through some good times, some bad. But I do pay for the service. They should be the first place I go. So I called. After some diagnostics, plugging, unplugging and restarts, it was settled: hardware failure. Apple is overnighting me a new one tomorrow. Hours wasted on something I had no hope of fixing in the first place.

I know from reading forums and list-serves that some of you have lost faith in Apple Care. It is insurance, and a choice. But this year, my experiences with this coverage has been great. So thanks Apple Care, that is the fourth time in a row you have either solved or delivered a solution to a problem I couldn’t fix. Next time, I will save some time and call you first.

Most folks agree this is fake. Here is hoping that when (of if) the tablet does come out, it is this cool.

I have been very happy with Dropbox and have nothing to report except smooth sailing. We still love our Scan Snap and Adobe tools. I was also given a nice workaround for my gripes with the Scan Snap courtesy of Finis Price. Thanks Finis. Check out his blog, Techno Esquire.

I ordered the new Magic Mouse. I love it. But mostly because I don’t have to worry about that track ball from getting all mucked up. As many others have reported, the left to right swiping leaves a lot to be desired.

We are still waiting to see when Houdini Esq. drops. We have made a few attempts to get an early look at this cloud based solution but, alas, nothing but the video.

I have also been trying to carve out some time to get another look at Rocket Matter with Larry Port. I know they have added a lot to the software that would have made the difference for me (including doc management and advanced calendaring).

I was a bit of a curmudgeon about iPhone apps when I first purchased my iPhone. I loved the phone. It kept everything in iCal, Mail, and Address Book in perfect sync. Other than that, I saw a lot of time wasting tools (and those are important) but nothing for my law practice. Well, since then, quite a few handy apps have popped. In particular, the entire Revised Code of Washington (check to see if they have your State). Go here for Federal. Dropbox cogged the iPhone has been great. And don’t forget DayFrom which is handy for counting from a particular date. Head over to Mac Lawyer for a few more handy apps.

I thought to myself, why wouldn’t it be? I typed in ScanSnap and Snow Leopard into Google and…boo. I have posted numerous times on my love affair with the Fujitsu ScanSnap. But this is really sad. The fact that it has still not been address by Fujitsu, even worse. There is a universal praise from Mac users everywhere for ScanSnap. I hope Fujitsu realize how quickly that tide can turn. In the meantime, Snow Leopard sits in my drawer, waiting for a fix.

You can read about the compatibility issues here.