The Mac Lawyer Using Macs in Law Firms | Attorney Ben Stevens

Blogosphere Ablaze Discussing Mac vs. PC Article

By J. Benjamin Stevens on Posted in Mac vs. PC

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As you are aware, "Mac v. PC," the ABA Journal article that I co-authored with Rick Georges debating the advantages of Macs vs. PCs went "live" online a couple of days ago. The print version is in the mail and should arrive any day now.  Bloggers from coast to coast have been discussing our little "discussion," including the following:

The feedback that I have read online and received via email has been almost unanimously positive, and I would like to thank everyone for the great reception that my portion of this article has received.  Of course, I had a much easier position to argue since the facts were so strongly on my side.

  • http://www.macsparky.com David Sparks

    Ben,
    Great job! I recently attended a day long seminar on CaseMap, an excellent “PC Only” application which I run through parallels. I think I sold about 10 macs that day to envious attorneys. Afterward the speaker told me it was funny because he looked up at a room full of Dell logos and a solitary Apple logo. Grin.

  • Joey Heape

    Ben, this is an absolute great article/shootout. Problem is, I see both sides. It’s like in the movie “A League of Their Own” when the young kid and Dottie are sitting in a car and he say’s, “why don’t we jump in the back seat and you make a man out of me”? And Dottie replies, “why don’t I slap you around a bit”? And the young boy recants, “Why can’t we do both”?
    As you know I use both PCs and Macs. I’m a “best tool for the job” person. Macs excel at some things while PCs excel at others. I think Apple has the right idea on the front side with the notion of “let’s offer Windows functionality via Boot Camp” so we can reign in that market and offer Windows users an alternative. Which, on the surface, makes Apple look like the guys that want to play well with everyone. On the underside though, are they tossing in the towel and saying “if you can’t beat them join them”?
    I don’t know the answer to that. What I do know is, I’m happy to have the choice. At work, I mostly use a PC because we are running a Windows Active Directory environment. I have a MacPro on my desk as well. But at home, and I do a lot of Bar work from home, I use a Mac primarily. They can live and work together. I understand that resources are not unlimited to most people, but if can you do both, then do it.
    Here’s little known secret, Chief Justice Toal’s PowerPoint themes that she uses for her presentations (state of the judiciary for Legislature, Bar convention, private speaking engagements) are Keynote themes converted to PowerPoint for her use. I know this because I create them for her. I have even been able to get the Chief’s IT director, Joan Assey, to purchase a mac laptop.
    For managing networks and websites though, I prefer the Windows boxes. Remote Desktop for the Mac is available and I use it extensively. I think Microsoft is willing to acknowledge the Mac environment (have you checked out Office 2008 for the Mac yet). Microsoft offers several pieces of software for the Mac. Is going to soon be MACrosoft?
    Keep up the excellent work and I look forward to your presentation at the Bar convention in 2009.
    Joey Heape
    Director of Media & Tech
    South Carolina Bar