The benefits of a Smart Phone

Here is a blog entry I was asked to write by LinkedIn. It was published there earlier this week:

I consider myself an early adopter. It is fun to try new things, to explore, and it keeps me in the know. Years ago, no one had websites. Then they began gaining in popularity, but lawyers are typically late adopters. When I set up my first one, apparently only eight lawyers in Georgia had them. The way I figured, if Coca-Cola, IBM and Delta had websites, and they were real companies, I wanted to be a real company too.

Then one day I was in court and opposing counsel and I were discussing dates for depositions (this was back in the 1990’s). He whipped out a device and told me what dates he had available. I was amazed since I had to call my secretary to go into my office to look at my paper calendar to perform the same task.

I had to get one, so I did — my first Palm Pilot. Thus began my path of using smart devices, hand held devices, to save time and create efficiency.

For a lawyer who bills by the hour, the time I can save on logistics (like setting dates for depositions), creates more time I can spend on what’s important for my clients, like researching the law (which I now often do on my smartphone), reading their file and talking to them.

Then of course the Palm Pilot evolved: Instead of just being a device which had to be carried in my “man purse” together with my cell phone, car keys and wallet, it morphed into a combination cellphone and PIM (Personal Information Manager).

Then it got smaller, eventually becoming a clamshell phone (us “old” folks remember those days). And we no longer had to manually connect it to our desktop to get email or to send email from or on our Palm phone. We just pushed a button on the phone whenever we wanted it to send and receive our email.

Then, a new era dawned: the Blackberry. It did everything Palm did, but better and quicker. And those got smaller and sleeker, until one day, my law partner (younger by 10 years and instrumental in keeping me moving forward with technology) said he was switching over to the new iPhone and so was I. I thought I had been through enough change and what could be so great? Well he was right and again I moved forward with the first version of the iPhone and have purchased each new edition the day they arrived to market (and iPads, Mini too).

Whether it’s an iPhone, Samsung or whatever, a smartphone, to me, is invaluable. In fact, I carry two (on different cellular networks in case of a network issue, dropped calls or a phone failure). It is what keeps me connected at all times, especially with my often hectic travel schedule.

So why is this device so important to me that it outweighs all other things I could carry with me? Because it is not one “thing”, it is a thousand. For anyone reading this, you are apparently already very technology literate and very likely reading this on a smartphone. So how is it a thousand things?

It is a newspaper. I read my Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Associated Press, WSJ and NYT on my phone each morning. No need to walk up the driveway, the whole paper is in my hand. Of course I still check emails and write emails on my phone. Like many of us, even when sitting at our desktop, I often simply pick up my phone and check my emails on it so I do not have to switch windows (I know, I could have two monitors at work, but I don’t).

But more than the basics of email and news, my phone is connected, so I am connected. All of our client files are in the cloud, so they are available on my iPhone. So many ancient tools are subsumed into this device that it is really something we could not have imagined twenty years ago. It has replaced so much, a Rolodex or little black book, a camera, a video camera, a video phone, a pager (texting does the same thing, just better), a mirror, a copy machine (yes, think about it, taking a photo of a document is all your copy machine does), a file cabinet, a photo album, a translator (try Google translate and you can speak any language), a map, a navigation/gps device, a dictionary, a thesaurus, a tape recorder, a flashlight, restaurant menus, a “Walkman” (portable music player), a radio, a TV (yes, you can watch live TV), a bible (can be saved on your device), the U.S. Constitution, a laptop for playing powerpoint programs (try SlideShark or others to play your powerpoint programs to a projector), a remote control for your TV, your AC, your home security system or even to start your car, thus replacing car keys.

And soon smartphones will replace your entire wallet or purse. Credit card payments can now be made (or received) via smart phone, so no need to carry a credit card. Driver’s licenses and eventually passports will all be on your Smartphone, leaving you nothing to carry.

And to continue, a Smartphone can also be a VCR, a DVR, a weather radio, an emergency roadside flare, a magnifying glass, a security camera, a TV guide, a portable DVD player, games for your kids, a chessboard, checkers, video arcade games, bowling, golfing, a diary and so much more. The list is as endless as the human imagination.

Then there’s social media. The need for instant connection. What better way to facilitate it than a hand held device? If social media is what allows us to stay connected to friends, business colleagues or leaders in our field, smartphones are what give us instant access to social media. We take a photo and post it or read an article and share it, and we have socialized, we have networked, instantly. We can debate all day long whether this need for instant and constant interaction is healthy, but it is certainly human.

I certainly have written much more than originally intended, but it is clear to me, there is one thing I carry that is much more important than anything else, in fact it is a thousand things. My smartphone has consolidated my life.

Of course, we need more self-discipline to put it down to play with our kids, to interact with the ones we love and to be a part of the real, not just the virtual world. But it certainly has made things easier for me.

So now I’ll hit “save” on my smartphone and conclude this entry, and look forward to your comments and thoughts.