So today, I stood in line at my local Apple store. For 3 hours. Just to get another iPad. Fortunately, I’m pleased to report that I have something to show for my efforts.

Dorothy, meet my everyone. Everyone, meet Dorothy:

Now some have wondered why I bothered to buy Dorothy when I already have Alice, my first generation iPad. Well, the reason is that I am constantly battling my family for access to Alice. My husband and 9 year old are now regularly reading books using the Kindle app. And, both of my kids love playing games on the iPad.

So, I decided I’d buy Dorothy for me and give Alice to the family. So now we’re a 2 iPad family, as I predict many families will be within the next year or so. My decidedly non-techie husband even predicted this trend last year after he’d had a few minutes alone with the iPad. He handed it back to me and said “I totally get it now. In a few years, every member of the family will have one of these and will use it as their own personal computer. And people will pass these around the family room like a magazine or a book.”

Our family is already there. Many others will soon follow suit. Mark my words. I am just as confident about this prediction as I was last year when I predicted that the iPad would change personal computing as we know it. It already has, and will continue to do so.

In the meantime, I recommend that those in possession of a first generation iPad run out and buy the JavoEdge Axis case. And, those who just bought an iPad2, forgo the Apple Smart Cover and wait for JavoEdge to come out with their iPad 2 case. It costs just $39.95 and comes in a number of really interesting and eye catching designs.

I bought the JavoEdge case (pictured above—I’m using it for Dorothy even though it’s not a perfect fit) in December after doing a lot of research and I love it. It protects the case, doesn’t show dirt and scuff marks and allows for easy reading at many different angles, whether on a counter or your lap.

The Apple Smart Cover is cool, but that’s about it. It doesn’t offer much protection in terms of a buffer if the iPad is dropped and only allows for viewing at 2 angles and only horizontally. And, the case is not suited for lap use. So, cool as it may look, it’s really not very functional.

The JavoEdge is far superior. It provides an attractive, stylish cushion for your iPad and you can use it vertically or horizontally at three different angled settings. The case works equally well on a flat surface or on your lap.

I highly recommend it.

     Here’s a recent article from my Daily Record column entitled “The iPad: The Future of Personal Computing.”

     A pdf of the article can be found here and my past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

*****

The iPad: The Future of Personal Computing

     Approximately 14.8 million iPads were sold in 2010, with 7.3 million being sold in the last quarter of 2010. One year ago, industry experts predicted far smaller numbers ranging from 3 million to 9 million. In 2010, iPad sales were so high that its revenues for actually surpassed Apple’s portable computer revenues last year. 

     Earlier this month, the iPad 2 was released. It sold out in the United States during the first weekend, with analysts estimating that between 500,000 – 600,000 units were sold. 70% of the purchases were made by first time buyers. By the end of 2011, sales of the iPad 2 will no doubt surpass the original iPad’s. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that by the end of 2011, Apple will have sold over 22 million iPad 2s.

     Last Tuesday, I joined the throngs of iPad 2 owners. Nearly one week and a half after the iPad 2 was released, I stood in line at the Apple Store at 7 a.m. on a Tuesday with approximately 100 other anxious Rochestarians. Three hours later, I left triumphantly with my new iPad 2 in hand, affectionately naming it “Dorothy” once it emerged from its packaging.

     Now some have asked me why I bothered to buy Dorothy when I already own “Alice”, my first generation iPad. The reason is simple: I am tired of constantly battling my family for access to Alice. My husband and 9 year old are now regularly reading books using the Kindle app. And, both of my kids love to play games on the iPad. So, I decided to buy Dorothy for my own use and gave Alice to my family. Now we’re a two iPad family, as I predict many families will be within the next year or so.

     I am very confident in this prediction, given that my predictions regarding the original iPad, made last year in this very column just a few weeks before it was released, came to fruition (and my prediction regarding how lawyers would use the iPad can be found here). In my column published on March 16, 2010, I concluded that the iPad would change the way we obtained and consumed information:

     “The iPad will not fill an already existing niche — it will create a new one. It will be ever-present in our homes, during daily commutes and on airplanes. The iPad will be prevalent where people tend to read books or magazines, but will be far less visible at locations where people mostly work or socialize. It will be our conduit for media consumption and our interface of choice. The iPad is a game changer of epic proportions — of that I am sure.”

     I also asserted, correctly, I believe, that the iPad would not replace laptops or smart phones:

     “It won’t be a portable work station. Laptops will continue to serve that function far better than the iPad. The iPad will suffice for composing e-mails and short documents but, for most businesses, laptops and desktop computers will remain the interface of choice. Likewise, the iPad will not replace the iPhone. Smart phones will continue to function as miniature connectors to the information super highway. Their smaller size and GPS functionality make smart phones ideal for certain tasks that the larger, less portable iPad will not be able to duplicate.”

     Of course, I wasn’t the only one to make these predictions. Many industry experts and analysts came to the same conclusion—just as others claimed, vehemently and incorrectly, that the iPad would be a tremendous failure.

     Industry experts aside, even my decidedly non-techie husband accurately predicted the iPad’s importance last April when, after he’d had a few minutes alone with the iPad, he handed it back to me and said, “I totally get it now. In a few years, every member of the family will have one of these and will use it as their own personal computer. And people will pass iPads around the family room like a magazine or book.”

     My husband was right. The iPad and other tablet computers will soon be mainstays in most middle-class American homes and will be the personal computing device of choice. Mark my words—within two years, at least one member of your family will own one, if not more.

Nicole Black is of counsel to Fiandach & Fiandach in Rochester. She co-authors the ABA book Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, co-authors Criminal Law in New York, a West-Thomson treatise, and is currently writing a book about cloud computing for lawyers that will be published by the ABA in early 2011. She is the founder of lawtechTalk.com and speaks regularly at conferences regarding the intersection of law and technology. She publishes four legal blogs and can be reached at nblack@nicoleblackesq.com.

Image via Wikipedia

Here’s a round up of my most recent iPad tweets and other useful iPad links:

• iPad Predicted in 1994 (Video) http://feedly.com/k/mhSZ39  (ReadWriteWeb)
• Yahoo! News: Most Viewed - Top Stories: Why the iPad Appeals to Older Users (U.S. News & World Report) http://6sen.se/f9BKfc
• Oklahoma State students, faculty tout iPad in classroom | The Digital Home - CNET News http://t.co/lC0kgan
• Amazon’s Plan to Create iPad Tablet Rival Reportedly Underway - Desktops and Notebooks - News & Reviews - eWeek.com http://t.co/xRmG8dO
• iPad presents problems for Presidential Records Act - The Hill’s Hillicon Valley http://t.co/3rofqnB

Image via CrunchBase

     I think this summer will be the tipping point for iPads. Why do I say that? Well, for a number of reasons.

     First, over Easter weekend, a number of friends and family members were considering buying iPads and asked me for my opinion regarding specs, etc. These are people who are not particularly techie. To me, the fact that so many people unrelated to one another and from different walks of life were simultaneously researching and buying iPads—just a few months after the iPad 2 was released—is a definite sign that iPads are beginning to have mass appeal.

     Another reason I think we’re reaching the tipping point for iPads—lots of famous people are getting them—from the President of the United States and the Queen of England, to celebrities like Kate Hudson to Justice Scalia. And all sorts of institutions are using them, from law firms  and hospitals to preschools to grade schools, high schools, colleges and law schools. Soon the iPad will be ubiquitous in every setting.

     They’re already showing up quite frequently in all of the places I predicted they would just over a year ago: in airports, on trains and at coffee shops. That’s because iPads are supplanting the use of other devices in those settings—smart phones, eReaders and laptops. In fact, based on a recent Nielsen study, some are asserting that, based on recent sales figures, iPads are replacing those devices.

     As I’ve often said in the past, I don’t think that iPads will replace those devices in all settings—in the business setting, laptops and desktops aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Instead, iPads fill a niche that many weren’t aware of until they got their hands on one. iPads are the perfect device for content consumption—and content creation, in a pinch.

     Whether iPads will rule the tablet computer market down the road remains to be seen. I think that Android-based tablets, like Android-based phones, will ultimately take at least half of the market share. But, for now, iPad sales have eclipsed the sales of all other tablet combined.

     Either way, tablet computers, led by the iPad, are about to reach a tipping point. Come fall, I think that my prediction will have come to pass and it will be evident that tablet computers are undoubtedly the next stage of computing for the everyday consumer.

     What do you think? Let me know at the Legal iPad Facebook page.

I brought home my iPhone 4S last week and am impressed by the Siri Assistant and the built in dictation system, which I demonstrate in a video in this earlier post.

When I tried to use Siri, I encountered an error that appeared intermittently, but seems to have subsided. Disconnecting and re-connecting to my wifi connection usually solved the issue. The Siri fail is shown in the video below:

I also figured out that I could require my phone to refer to me using something other than my name, and it now calls me “Sexy Mama,” to my endless amusement. If you’d like to do that, just tell Siri “Call me ‘X’” and voila! (If you ever send your contact info. to others from your iPhone, I would avoid this, since it adds your nickname to your contact profile.)

This particular command can result in a funny Siri Fail, as seen below:

Below are screenshots two of my more memorable interactions with Siri:

(In case you were wondering, Siri wasn’t able to perform the web search because my iPhone is password protected and I hadn’t yet unlocked the phone by entering my password. Sometimes Siri will prompt me to do so if issue a command that can’t be performed if the phone is still locked; other times, it won’t).

Image by William Hook via Flickr

Since upgrading to the iPhone 4S, I’ve encountered a number of problems with the messaging functions of the phone. And, I’m not the only one. A number of my friends have encountered similar issues, as have many others, judging from the results of a Google search for “iPhone 4S texting issues” or “iMessage issues.”

I thought I’d post about the issues I was having and let you now what I did to address the issue, simply for posterity’s sake, if nothing else, since it seems the issue is memorialized primarily in online forums versus blogs or other mainstream sites.

The main problem that I encountered was that I simply wasn’t receiving texts that were being sent to me. After much research and confusion, I determined that it only occurred when receiving texts from other iPhone users and appeared to have something to do with the new iMessage feature.

If you’re not already aware, iMessage is the new messaging system rolled out with the new iPhone operating system IOS 5.  iMessage allows IOS 5 users to send messages to other IOS 5 users across all devices,  including iPods, iPhones, and iPads. Unfortunately, it’s a bit buggy at this point.

Some people, like me, have had issues receiving messages. Other have had issues with the group messaging function.  I’m still unsure whether the issue is related to the IOS 5 operating system, my carrier (AT&T), or is limited to iPhone 4S users. In any event, thus far, the only solution for me is to simply turn iMessage off. Since I pay for unlimited texting and am grandfathered in to the unlimited data plan, the fact that I can’t use iMessage isn’t an issue for me.

But for others, iMessage offers a way to get around the text limit caps and data limit caps when sending multimedia messages via text. Unfortunately, that benefit is lost if iMessage can’t be used due to its inherent unreliability. Hopefully Apple fixes this annoying issue soon. Let me know over at the Legal iPad Facebook page if you’ve had similar issues and if so, if and how you fixed them.

Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and GigaOM Pro Analyst. She co-authors the ABA book Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, co-authors Criminal Law in New York, a West-Thomson treatise, and is currently writing a book about cloud computing for lawyers that will be published by the ABA in late 2011. She is the founder of lawtechTalk.com and speaks regularly at conferences regarding the intersection of law and technology. She publishes four legal blogs and can be reached at nblack@nicoleblackesq.com.