I can remember, back in 1994 when set up in sole practice, after I had decided to get myself a computer to run it, buying a computer magazine. It was completely incomprehensible. There were all these references to normal sounding things like windows and buses, but they did not make sense. I remember reading a whole article and not understanding a word of it. Something Had To Be Done.
I then went to stay with an old school friend whose husband ran a computer company. I told him about my problems. We decided that what I needed was a book. So we went to Waterstones and I can remember sitting on the floor surrounded by computer books while Kelvin worked out which would be the best one for me.
I read it from cover to cover on the way home on the train (it was quite a long journey), the scales fell from my eyes, and since then I have not had a huge problem. There are and always will be many things I will never be able to understand or do, as I am a solicitor and not a trained computer/software engineer, but somehow I have always managed, eventually, to sort something out.
I think the important thing is to want to do it, and then not to give up. Also remember that the designers of (most) software are writing it (on the whole) for ordinary people to use, not computer genius’s. This means people like us ought to be able to understand it. Once you get in to the way of understanding how things are done in software (there are a lot of conventions and standard ways of doing thing), you can generally sort of find your way through it.
Often once you understand something, you find out that it is not actually as difficult as you thought, and indeed you may wonder what it was you ever found difficult!
NB The book I bought is well out of date by now, but if you are a complete beginner, probably something like Computing For Beginners: The Basics Explained in Plain English
I agree — it’s all about persistence and having the courage to stray outside your comfort zone. One all the most useful bits of technology I have come across is in Dragon voice activated software. I’ve used it for the last couple of years for 99% of my typing. My practice director, capable of 80 words a minute typing, now uses it in preference as it is quicker and easier. I’m now trying for a second time to roll it out to my 60 staff. The trick I learned on my first attempt to get everyone else to use it was that you shouldn’t scrimp on kit or training. Get a good quality microphone [such as the Philips Speech Mike] and gets external training — the trainer should be able to sort out any technical problems and having external validation is proving invaluable.
I am a touch typist (in a previous incarnation I worked as a secretary) so I prefer typing by hand. And as I do a lot of work in the sitting room when the family are there, I don’t really want to be muttering into a machine. I get enough complaints as it is …
But I have heard good reports of Dragon – they have been around a long time.
I can’t see any area of law that will not be touched by the requirement for increased technology. I predict that over the next few years there will be a greater focus on embracing technology for risk management purposes rather for increased efficiency.
Thats interesting. Can you give any examples of how this would be done?
There are a couple of interesting web based risk management services in the last couple of months. An example of this is LENDERmoniter ( http://www.lendermonitor.com/ )
Good blog – by the way. It is a good read.
I can see these sort of services being pushed by regulators and insurers alike.
The lender monitor site looks like a really useful service if you work in that area.
I have a lot of feeds and google alerts on various topics and subscribe to several legal email newsletters, but I still miss things occasionally, even though my professional area of practice is fairly narrow (residential landlord and tenant law). It is a perpetual worry when you are in practice.
I can certainly see why insurers and regulators would want us to use a professional service, but it is yet another expense …
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I think you hit the nail on the head at the end of your post – things are not that difficult once you make a conscious decision to spend just a few hours on understanding it. Creating a blog or even a complete website is much easier than you may think. You will also find that once you start to get to grips with technology, particularly creating online information, it becomes very addictive and somewhat liberating in getting your views ‘out there’.
I agree. I certainly enjoy writing my blogs, which is why I have several. And it gives me something to do in the long winter nights …
The more you do, the easier it gets, although there are always challenges, some of which I may never overcome. Although I am thinking of doing a course on php.