From: garygm@leland.Stanford.EDU (Gary Brainin)
Subject: Computers for Law (Was Re: Advice for first year law student?)
Organization: Stanford Law School, Stanford University
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 21:55:16 GMT

In article <1992Aug21.130727.22902@eff.org> mnemonic@eff.org (Mike Godwin) writes:
>In article <1992Aug21.051223.19091@leland.Stanford.EDU> shedevil@gw.home.vix.com (Anne P. Mitchell, J.D.) writes:
>
>>About computers [darn, already deleted the discussion about "If you
>>buy a Mac, get "MORE", etc]:  If you don't already have a computer,
>>and you are going to buy a Mac - don't.  At least around here, DOS
>>machines are the standard in law firms.  I can't imagine it is that
>>different anywhere else in the country.
>
>My Mac, like all current Macs, reads and writes DOS disks and files.
>Anne's statement here is way out of date. Buy a Mac. It's a better
>outlining tool than any DOS machine. I'm extensively familiar with
>both platforms, and can speak from experience in training other law
>students.
>
>I'll gladly do a demo for anyone in the area, both as to outlining,
>and as to file and disk compatibility between Macs and DOS machines.
>As a sage once commented, it's not what you don't know that hurts
>you--it's what you know that ain't true.

   I'm not sure what that last bit was supposed to mean, but I'd like
to disagree not with the statements made, but with the conclusions
your drew.

   It is true that modern Macs can read & write DOS disks, and can
even emulate PC functionality.  But conversion is not the same as true
compatibility; I've spent more hours than I care to think about trying
to convert documents from one format to another, and it's always a
bloody pain, and you always lose something in translation.  (Or gain
something, as the case may be.)

   This problem is compounded by the fact that the industry standard
DOS word processor is WordPerfect, which, apparently, nobody uses on
the Mac.  So you're not only translating between platforms, but
between file formats.

   Furthermore, the computer on your desk (assuming you are lucky
enough to have one) is likely to be a DOS machine.  You could buy a
powerbook and lug it back and forth to work every day, you could buy a
second computer for work, or you could learn to use the one that's
there.  If you've been using DOS for the last three years, the last
option will be easy.

   What you lose by getting a mac, then, is seamless compatibility
with what's likely to be out there in the workplace.  There are ways
around it.  You can learn to convert files, and if you're computer
savvy enough, this becomes more of a nuisance than a true obstacle.
You could buy SoftPC, but why buy an expensive mac just to run it as
if it were a 286?

   Or you could buy a DOS machine to start with.  This option has its
own disadvantages.  Unlike my experience with the "real world," I've
found schools much more likely to be mac-oriented.  So you'll have
some of the same difficulties you would have outside while you're
inside.  (You should check on this; even at Stanford, which is very
mac-oriented, there are significant enclaves of DOS, and I had no more
trouble with a DOS machine than I would have had with a mac, maybe
less.)

   Further, you lose the two platform option.  While SoftPC has its
limitations, there is no parallel mac emulator for PCs that I know of.
So you don't get any of the mac stuff if you go the DOS route.
Personally, I haven't missed it much, but some people prefer the mac
interface.

   So while I wouldn't go so far as to make any blanket
recommendations, I don't think saying that macs read DOS disks (though
true) quite captures the entire problem.

			-Gary
-- 
|Gary Brainin                     |BITNET: garygm%leland.stanford.edu@stanford|
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