Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Law and Tablets: Back to the future with ink
Great second article by Tablet PC MVP Tom Bishop on using Tablet PCs in the legal profession
While typing is an extremely efficient means of turning large passages of text into digital files for formatting, reproduction and distribution, there are important forms of text and information that keyboards can't create. These include signatures, diagrams, diaries, handwritten notes (including abbreviations) and anything created by someone who can't type.
Handwritten notes made in margins, taken during interviews or trials are an important part of an attorney's work product. Arrows, lines, circles and stars applied on top of text convey a great deal of emphasis and insight that is beyond the bandwidth of text. Many law review editors still handwrite proofreading corrections on galleys before the book is released for printing. Connecting these types of data to PCs was challenging. The scanner helped, but you can't OCR a drawing or highlighting strokes.
Tablet PC Buzz.com - Features
While typing is an extremely efficient means of turning large passages of text into digital files for formatting, reproduction and distribution, there are important forms of text and information that keyboards can't create. These include signatures, diagrams, diaries, handwritten notes (including abbreviations) and anything created by someone who can't type.
Handwritten notes made in margins, taken during interviews or trials are an important part of an attorney's work product. Arrows, lines, circles and stars applied on top of text convey a great deal of emphasis and insight that is beyond the bandwidth of text. Many law review editors still handwrite proofreading corrections on galleys before the book is released for printing. Connecting these types of data to PCs was challenging. The scanner helped, but you can't OCR a drawing or highlighting strokes.
Tablet PC Buzz.com - Features
