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Mac Spotlight
It's Not Your Imagination: Those Really Are iMacs and iBooks You are Seeing in Law Shops
Apple has survived its death spiral and now is making a dent in the small-firm legal market.
By Randy B. Singer
IT IS NO secret that a year or two ago Apple Computer Inc., and its Macintosh line of computers, was in deep trouble. Apple wasn't making money, developers were abandoning the platform, and even die-hard users were re-thinking their decision to use Macs.
Then CEO Steve Jobs returned, and Apple began unleashing new products that grabbed consumer imagination and checkbooks: the iMac, the G3, the G4, the iBook. Apple's fortunes have completely reversed.
So what about law? In 1998, the ABA's annual technology survey of small law firms. reported that around 74 percent of lawyers in private practice work in firms with 20 or fewer lawyers. It found that Apple computers were the fifth most popular brand of computers, and the dominant brand in 8.9 percent of small law firms. This is especially significant because this study was done before the introduction of the iMac, in August of '98. Apple was as surprised by these figures as anyone else. In fact, they were so buoyed by these numbers that they decided that the law office market would be one of the first vertical markets to which Apple would cautiously make a return.
At Macworld Expo in New York last summer, and in San Francisco in January, Apple's Fritz Ogden met with a group of attorneys and outlined Apple's plans to expand the small law office market and unveiled a new legal-oriented Web page: www.apple.com/.
At the time, many observers criticized Apple's comeback strategy of concentrating on their "core markets" of graphics, education and desktop publishing and then later, after the introduction of the iMac, the consumer market. However, in retrospect, it was a brilliant strategy. Over the holidays, I attended several parties populated by professionals, who said they owned an iMac and used it at home. Many told me how much they preferred their iMac to the Windows PC that they used at work and that they were considering switching to an iMac at work. It seems that Apple's strategy of concentrating on the consumer market first, has resulted in an infiltration of the business markets, via the home market.
For many months Apple's iMac has been the best selling model of personal computer on the market; its iBook is the best selling laptop computer. There are many reasons why they are so popular, but it goes beyond the fun colors, iMac's all-in-one integrated system (processor, monitor, modem), and its easy set up. While Windows PCs in the same price range as an iMac use entry-level Celeron processors rather than the more powerful Pentium III processors, iMacs and iBooks offer G3 that are just about as fast as new G4s for most applications.)
Legal Software
But why else would an iMac be attractive for law office use? First, there is more law office software for the Macintosh than for Windows PCs. Yes! That was not a misprint. Despite the mythology, there are far more law office applications for the Mac than for the PC. A list of about 170 of them can be found at: www.macattorney.com. I haven't seen similar lists of law office software for Windows.In fact, most of the most popular law office productivity software originated on the Macintosh and later migrated to Windows: Word, Excel, Amicus Attorney, and Timeslips.
However, it is true that the same brands and titles of law office software are not necessarily available for both the Mac and for Windows, and that some sub-sub specialty software is not available for Apple users.
Another reason that the Macintosh is attractive to law firms: Setting up an office-wide network of Macs can be significantly cheaper than going with Windows PCs. All current models of Mac come with 10/100baseT Ethernet. Macs, unlike Windows computers, really are plug and play. With the addition of inexpensive hubs and some cable, it is possible to set up a network of iMacs in a weekend, without expensive consultants.
Studies show that Macs require less training to learn to use. (See Gartner's "Technical Support Costs and Dual-Platform Desktops: Managed Diversity.").
Studies also demonstrate that Macs require far less maintenance, have a longer service life and a higher resale value. (See, Gistics "Return on Investment" study, and other references at www.mother.com/). In short, users purchase Macs for just about the same reasons one would purchase a BMW or a Harley-Davidson: Style, value, quality, and resale value
Stability
The most frequent rationale I hear from attorneys on why they switched from a Windows PC to a Macintosh is stability. Since the advent of Mac OS 8, (currently the Mac is up to OS 9, OS 10 is slated for introduction this summer and will be based on UNIX at its heart), the Macintosh operating system has been supremely stable. To illustrate the difference in the experience of using a Macintosh versus Windows PC, look at just about any issue of PC World and Macworld magazines and see what both emphasize.
The cover of a recent PC World trumpets "75 Ways to Destroy Bugs and Viruses Before They Destroy You!" Macworld is devoted to cordless "Hot Products!" The differences can be seen all throughout both magazines. Windows users are preoccupied with keeping their machines running. There are thousands of viruses and tons of bugs, in both Windows and Windows applications; and Windows 98 is well known for its lack of stability.
Macs are not immune to viruses; but the few that do emerge are not particularly malicious. I've never heard of a Mac user who has had an entire hard disk wiped out by a virus. But I've known firms that were devastated by a malicious Windows virus. The Mac can be nicely protected by either Virex or Norton Anti-Virus.
Granted, Windows has come a long way. Once you have your applications and hardware set up, using a Windows PC is not much different than using a Mac. The big differences arise when you want to change or add something, or when something goes wrong.
For example, if you want to add a CD-ROM drive to a Mac, you plug it in and boot-up. You don't need to add any new drivers. A similar exercise on a Windows PC can be a long, frustrating affair with calls to tech support. With a Mac, often you can figure out problems; no preference or initialization files need to be edited; and ancillary program files are easy to find, remove, and reinstall.
Less Fear
In law offices, this stability and decreased reliance on outside technical support translates into less fear about pushing the Mac to do new tasks that might be intimidating to a Windows user.
Solos can create document imaging and management systems. In bigger firms, complex networks can be easily set up, offering access to the Internet for legal research, instant chatting, shared calendar, and document collaboration. Many Mac attorneys even create their own law office applications in Filemaker Pro.
While it is unlikely that Apple will grab more than 20 percent of the law office market in the near future, it is good to know that there is a choice.The Mac is a supremely viable alternative, that may even give your firm a palpable competitive edge.
Randy B. Singer, a Woodland, Calif., solo, is the author of the ABA's The Macintosh Software Guide for the Law Office.
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