Futurelawyer

Every Day The Remarkable 2 Becomes More Remarkable.

Toms Guide Remarkable 2 Review. I have been a Note user since the first one. That is a lot of Notes and a lot of phones. But, I never really used the active stylus that sits in the phone a lot. The Note screen was too small to really write on, and, while the Styluses got better over time, they never really seemed perfect. Now that I am putting the new Remarkable 2 through its paces, I am discovering a new love of pen scratching on paper, even if I use a plastic stylus and a digital surface. Imagine my happiness when I realized that the stylus in my Note phone worked great on the Remarkable tablet. I now have an alternative writing instrument that is with me everywhere.

Remarkable 2 - It's Also An EReader.

I am spending a fun morning learning about my new Remarkable 2 tablet. While lovers of pen and paper and books might disagree (Michael Wade, is this you?), I prefer reading on electronic tablets. The Read On Remarkable browser extension puts an icon on the browser command bar that automatically sends a pdf of an article or page to the tablet for reading and marking up. The 8 Gigabytes of storage on the tablet won't support a whole library; but, will work well for most things that can be deleted or transferred to a computer before deleting. 

Remarkable 2 Has Changed My Daily Note Taking.

I have only had the Remarkable 2 tablet for 18 hours, and I already have figured out how to use it for my daily note taking and calendar. In the past, I printed out the daily Google Calendar, and made notes on it; while, at the same time, keeping a LiveScribe notebook to make notes of what I was doing during the day. Now, because of the ability of the Remarkable 2 to sync with the cloud, and to download PDFs that I can make notes on, I have a ready made template for the day by downloading the daily Google calendar to the tablet. No printing required. Then, I have my calendar on the tablet, and can make notes during the day, keeping a log of my activities. I can't wait to get pleadings, memos, and other pdf documents that I can read and comment on as I take notes

Remarkable 2 Unboxing Video

This guy is a great reviewer, and is thorough beyond belief. But, my favorite part is when he actually opens the box, and sounds like a, well, you figure out what he sounds like. Hilarious. But, in truth, this is the unboxing video I would make if I wanted to spend a lot of time doing it. 

Remarkable 2 - I Feel Like A Kid On Christmas Morning.

Okay, this will not be a full review. I am lazy, and I haven't had this long long enough. First, after waiting all day at the office yesterday, it wasn't delivered until 6:30 P.M. after dark. But, the good news is that it is ready to go as soon as you press the on button. I am still learning how to create pages, and learning the menus; but, first impressions are positive. The only glitch I have experienced so far is due to my left handedness. Even after setting the device for left handed writing, I still got a cancelled screen when my left palm rest on the page while I was writing. I will keep trying to figure that part out. But, as I learn, I can say that this thing is amazing. Thin, light and beautiful, and it feels like I am writing on paper. Check out the attached more complete review to get a real feel for the experience. I have already given up my LiveScribe pens and notebooks. When I create a daily page on which I write the day's events, I now just click a menu option and they are saved, in pdf format, to the folder on my computer which holds my Calendars. Another really cool thing, which I can't do with my ball point pen, is to turn the stylus upside down, and use it as an eraser. So cool. I haven't played with importing pdf files, and taking notes on them yet; but, it looks amazing. If you are a lawyer who takes notes in longhand while talking to the client, or who likes to prepare longhand outlines before a Motion argument, this thing will change your life and practice. Pay the extra $59 for the stylus with an eraser end. $79 for the folio case is nice; but, I only bought it because I can be hard on tablet screens. $399 for the tablet is pricey; but, think of all the money you will save on pens and paper. Merry Christmas. 

When Pen And Paper Became Obsolete.

Remarkable 2. Today will be an interesting day. My new Remarkable 2 tablet is being delivered, and I am looking forward to taking notes digitally from now on. I have been making the transition to digital life for many years. Over time, my library of books constructed of paper and ink has stagnated, as I add to my collection of small digital files that magically appear on my notebook computer, Kindle PaperWhite device, and tablets and smartphones. However, I have always appreciated the physical sensations of writing with a pen or pencil on paper to take notes, write motion arguments and pleading outlines. As I aged, I moved to ball point pens, and eschewed the impermanence of graphite pencils. But, alas, scribbling on paper gave way to many failed attempts at digitizing my notes and saving them in electronic format along with my word processing documents and scanned content. Every attempt at creating the pencil on paper experience was terrible, and I finally settled on pen on real paper; but, special dotted paper that recognized the movements of a pen fitted with an infrared camera that recorded my actual handwriting. The Livescribe experience has been my every day for four years or more. However, today, when the Remarkable 2 tablet arrives, it comes with the promise of digital writing that mimics pencil or pen on paper, down to the scratch, scratch sound. The most important thing to me, however, is that a $49 accessory, the Marker Plus, has an eraser tip. Don't like the digital note you just took? You don't have to find an eraser icon in the menu bar. Just turn the thing over and erase. Very cool. If this thing works, it will make pen or pencil and paper obsolete. What are you writing on?

#CES 2021 - It's All About Tech And Gadgets.

HP Business Elite-Folio. The new HP Elite-Folio notebook computer has a unique 2 in 1 form factor. It is a notebook, and it props up on itself like a tablet, and then folds flat like a tablet. It can play video content for up to 25 hours without a charge, and has an active pen for marking up documents. You can buy it in February.

Don't Be Like Pig. Be Like Rat.

Hey, Lawyer! Why Are You Paying For Legal Research?

AnyLaw. I remember, as a young lawyer, spending hours in my law library, updating volumes of Florida Statutes Annotated, with pocket parts that came every month. In order to stay current, much of the library required monthly additions via pocket part, and my first clerking job was primarily keeping the law library up to date. When cases and statutes started being published on CD Rom, I was excited, because I could hold an entire library in a few CDs, and carry it around to plug into my 15 pound portable computer. When the Eighties and Nineties came, and the Internet went online, I spent a lot of time telling anyone who would listen that all the law would ultimately be accessed on the Internet. Now, it is true; but, the old law publishers aren't going down without a fight. Who owns the law? The taxpayers who pay for it, that's who. But, those who would make it accessible in one place, and searchable using AI and search engines, need to make a living also. AnyLaw is providing free and open access to the law, and statutes, and will ultimately earn by using the advertising model. But, you can do basic primary law research at AnyLaw with no more investment than your time. There are paid legal research services that provide additional access to secondary sources, and other stuff. But, if you are paying for basic case and statute finding research, you are throwing money away. Begin your project with Google Scholar and AnyLaw. You will be surprised at the quality and quantity of the results.

Old Electronics? Don't Recycle. Repurpose.

#Techtips - Out With The Old. In With The New. I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to read this month's Florida Bar Tech Tips column. Recycling old tech and electronics? Blasphemy. I never saw tech I didn't like. And, I never throw it away. That is saying something from someone who has spent most of his disposable income on tech and gadgets for the last 40 years. I have cell phones in drawers that are older than most of the lawyers in Florida. My recent experience in stocking an RV for tech travel is instructive. I have collected a bunch of old, no longer used, tech and repurposed it for travel use. There is an old Samsung 18 inch tablet that was sitting around that now serves as an entertainment and web browsing station. There is an old TV that was unused in the RV bedroom. There are cables, and USB hubs and the Lord knows what else interspersed throughout connecting things. An old Smartphone serves as a WiFi hotspot for the coach. My current notebook and its peripherals still come with me for real work, accompanied by a portable printer that was used for travel that became less and less over the years. I could go on; but, I hope you get the picture. So, before you waste time and money recycling old tech, ask yourself this question: how can I use this marvelous technology for a new purpose?