Top Law Schools

I've got a birthday coming up and my mom asked me if I wouldn't like to have an iPad for law school. Of course I wouldn't mind having one if it was really useful, but I already have an iPhone and I think it would be kind of a waste otherwise.

Anyway, I was curious how current law students feel about the iPad in their schools. Do you see a lot of people using them in class or for studying? Are any of the textbooks available as e-books at this point? Do you think it would be a worthwhile investment, or would you maybe recommend another reader (KindleXL, Nook etc.) Any info is appreciated!

There's a search function at the bottom of the page.

I love Apple, however after owning and returning the iPad, i believe that the iPad sucks for non-law students; therefore, it will suck even worse for law students. Get a Macbook in Q3 or Q4 of 2011, they will supposedly lack optical drives (making them lighter and more like the 'Air').

bk187 wrote:There's a search function at the bottom of the page.

the search function on these forums is like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. I'm crowdsourcing, baby~

bigjinjapan wrote:

bk187 wrote:There's a search function at the bottom of the page.

the search function on these forums is like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. I'm crowdsourcing, baby~

No, you're being lazy.

bk187 wrote:

bigjinjapan wrote:

bk187 wrote:There's a search function at the bottom of the page.

the search function on these forums is like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. I'm crowdsourcing, baby~

No, you're being lazy.

Sorry I didn't every spare minute the past year sharpening my TLS forum skillz. I was under the impression that the Frequently Asked Questions board would be a place to Ask Questions.

Anyway, I hope the guy with 6000+ posts in the last 10 months isn't trying to cut himself out as the thread-count police.

FWIW, I scoured some of the older threads on this the consensus (if there even was any) seemed to be that it might not be the best investment, largely cause the iPad has limited functions and the ones it does have are better performed by other gadgets.

the iTampon iPad is more of a toy than anything. It doesn't work for undergrad so it definitely won't work for law school. I mean it's definitely sweet to have one though and a more useful organizer (imo) than the iPhone

I used it last semester for the first month. For my school you couldn't use the exam software on the iPad, which means you couldn't take finals on it. Also the word processing app that apple makes for it is a joke, so even note taking is a problem.

Thanks to all for the info. I was mostly interested in using it as an eBook reader (since it's more format agnostic than the Kindle or Nook). I haven't been able to find out a lot about the ability of law textbooks in eBook format, but does anybody have any experience with this?

You won't find casebooks in eBook format. If they were available in eBook format they would be available as bit torrents in a matter of seconds and these publishers wouldn't be able to extort $200 a book from law students.

Fresh wrote:the iTampon iPad is more of a toy than anything. It doesn't work for undergrad so it definitely won't work for law school. I mean it's definitely sweet to have one though and a more useful organizer (imo) than the iPhone

Ipads were our company holiday gift (when I unwrapped that one time I was sad to be leaving to go to law school). I love mine but its toy - its a giant iphone that dosent make calls...its a computer that you cant type anything of any length on...its a lot of fun but it wont be directly useful for law school in any way

I've seen a doctor use an iPad (w/ stand and keyboard attached) in lieu of a laptop. So in theory they can be used as something more than a neat toy. That said, I don't think ExamSoft makes a version for iOS 4. Ask for a MacBook if you want an Apple product for school.

bigjinjapan wrote:

bk187 wrote:

bigjinjapan wrote:

bk187 wrote:There's a search function at the bottom of the page.

the search function on these forums is like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. I'm crowdsourcing, baby~

No, you're being lazy.

Sorry I didn't every spare minute the past year sharpening my TLS forum skillz. I was under the impression that the Frequently Asked Questions board would be a place to Ask Questions.

Anyway, I hope the guy with 6000+ posts in the last 10 months isn't trying to cut himself out as the thread-count police.

Before you berate the system and start randomly insulting people here, how about ACTUALLY searching. In a 3 minute search, i found:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=142708
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3790630
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3014910
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p2788631


The answers are here. Don't make stupid excuses.

Curry wrote:


Before you berate the system and start randomly insulting people here, how about ACTUALLY searching. In a 3 minute search, i found:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=142708
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3790630
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3014910
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p2788631


The answers are here. Don't make stupid excuses.

I for one am glad someone started this thread. The four links posted above are utterly useless. I had thought about getting an iPad for law school but there hasn't really been a whole lot of discussion on it in these forums. So far it doesn't seem like the ipad is worth the money...

CliveStaples wrote:

Curry wrote:


Before you berate the system and start randomly insulting people here, how about ACTUALLY searching. In a 3 minute search, i found:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=142708
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3790630
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3014910
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p2788631


The answers are here. Don't make stupid excuses.

I for one am glad someone started this thread. The four links posted above are utterly useless. I had thought about getting an iPad for law school but there hasn't really been a whole lot of discussion on it in these forums. So far it doesn't seem like the ipad is worth the money...

They are not useless. The first link talks about how getting an ereader makes it hard to effectively mark up your books. The second link tells you that there are not casebooks for the ipad. The third link confirms that idea by saying there are just not that many books out via pdf. The fourth link talks about how publishers are reluctant to produce pdf files.

The combination of that data says that there are not many ls books out that can be read on the ipad, there probably wont be many in the near future, and reading the ones that are out there puts you at a disadvantage because it is difficult to mark up. It doesn't seem like its worth it. Now if you want evidence showing it is worth it, and you're going to reject all evidence to the contrary, well then good luck...

Curry wrote:

CliveStaples wrote:

Curry wrote:


Before you berate the system and start randomly insulting people here, how about ACTUALLY searching. In a 3 minute search, i found:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=142708
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3790630
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3014910
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p2788631


The answers are here. Don't make stupid excuses.

I for one am glad someone started this thread. The four links posted above are utterly useless. I had thought about getting an iPad for law school but there hasn't really been a whole lot of discussion on it in these forums. So far it doesn't seem like the ipad is worth the money...

They are not useless. The first link talks about how getting an ereader makes it hard to effectively mark up your books. The second link tells you that there are not casebooks for the ipad. The third link confirms that idea by saying there are just not that many books out via pdf. The fourth link talks about how publishers are reluctant to produce pdf files.

The combination of that data says that there are not many ls books out that can be read on the ipad, there probably wont be many in the near future, and reading the ones that are out there puts you at a disadvantage because it is difficult to mark up. It doesn't seem like its worth it. Now if you want evidence showing it is worth it, and you're going to reject all evidence to the contrary, well then good luck...

Eh I apologize I just reread what the OP said and he did talk about using them as eReaders.. I guess I skimmed over it and thought he was wanting it as a laptop replacement. In which case the above links are useful. I was more interested in the iPad as a laptop replacement (sort of like the doctor in an earlier mentioned post) and if anyone has thoughts on that...

CliveStaples wrote:

Curry wrote:

CliveStaples wrote:

Curry wrote:


Before you berate the system and start randomly insulting people here, how about ACTUALLY searching. In a 3 minute search, i found:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=142708
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3790630
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3014910
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p2788631


The answers are here. Don't make stupid excuses.

I for one am glad someone started this thread. The four links posted above are utterly useless. I had thought about getting an iPad for law school but there hasn't really been a whole lot of discussion on it in these forums. So far it doesn't seem like the ipad is worth the money...

They are not useless. The first link talks about how getting an ereader makes it hard to effectively mark up your books. The second link tells you that there are not casebooks for the ipad. The third link confirms that idea by saying there are just not that many books out via pdf. The fourth link talks about how publishers are reluctant to produce pdf files.

The combination of that data says that there are not many ls books out that can be read on the ipad, there probably wont be many in the near future, and reading the ones that are out there puts you at a disadvantage because it is difficult to mark up. It doesn't seem like its worth it. Now if you want evidence showing it is worth it, and you're going to reject all evidence to the contrary, well then good luck...

Eh I apologize I just reread what the OP said and he did talk about using them as eReaders.. I guess I skimmed over it and thought he was wanting it as a laptop replacement. In which case the above links are useful. I was more interested in the iPad as a laptop replacement (sort of like the doctor in an earlier mentioned post) and if anyone has thoughts on that...

Fair enough

bigjinjapan wrote:I've got a birthday coming up and my mom asked me if I wouldn't like to have an iPad for law school. Of course I wouldn't mind having one if it was really useful, but I already have an iPhone and I think it would be kind of a waste otherwise.

Anyway, I was curious how current law students feel about the iPad in their schools. Do you see a lot of people using them in class or for studying? Are any of the textbooks available as e-books at this point? Do you think it would be a worthwhile investment, or would you maybe recommend another reader (KindleXL, Nook etc.) Any info is appreciated!

I question how useful you would find it for law school. I don't see it adding much of particular benefit, but it may be a cool gadget to have around.

Also, although this has been clarified in the thread, I got the impression initially from the OP that he was looking for an alternative to a normal laptop (which apparently some students are using tablets as) and not just a 'reader.' I don't really understand the point of having a separate reader anyway (got a Kindle but got rid of it because it was so slow). Just saying that I can def understand why someone could get the initial impression that OP was asking about iPad beyond just as a 'reader.'

I'm a 1L and I use my iPad for notes in class every day. It works well as long as you have Pages and don't mind manually tabbing in for every line (I do
Notes in outline form). I would recommend actually having a computer for making full outlines at the end of the quarter/semester, but for daily stuff, it's great!

Curry wrote: Before you berate the system and start randomly insulting people here, how about ACTUALLY searching. In a 3 minute search, i found:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=142708
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3790630
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3014910
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p2788631


The answers are here. Don't make stupid excuses.

It's incredibly unhelpful when you post a question and the replies that come back are 'this has been asked already.' It's basically trolling.

Thanks for the links, and that's good info, but I still don't see why I have to sit and take abuse for asking a fucking question.

bigjinjapan wrote:

Curry wrote: Before you berate the system and start randomly insulting people here, how about ACTUALLY searching. In a 3 minute search, i found:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=142708
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3790630
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3014910
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p2788631


The answers are here. Don't make stupid excuses.

It's incredibly unhelpful when you post a question and the replies that come back are 'this has been asked already.' It's basically trolling.

Thanks for the links, and that's good info, but I still don't see why I have to sit and take abuse for asking a fucking question.

It is good forum etiquette to search the forums before asking a question. The "this has already been asked" responses are there because its clear you have not searched. Think about it from the perspective of the people answering your question. If you saw the same questions over and over again, don't you think you'd be mildly annoyed if the answers were a 3 second search away. The forums are a place where you can get info. The search function is a vital part of that information search. If you don't need to involve anyone else, don't.

bigjinjapan wrote:It's incredibly unhelpful when you post a question and the replies that come back are 'this has been asked already.' It's basically trolling.

You think that's trolling? You're going to love it here.

bigjinjapan wrote:

Curry wrote: Before you berate the system and start randomly insulting people here, how about ACTUALLY searching. In a 3 minute search, i found:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=142708
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3790630
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p3014910
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p2788631


The answers are here. Don't make stupid excuses.

It's incredibly unhelpful when you post a question and the replies that come back are 'this has been asked already.' It's basically trolling.

Thanks for the links, and that's good info, but I still don't see why I have to sit and take abuse for asking a fucking question.

No one is abusing you for asking questions, but come on. Is it so hard to do some work yourself before starting a topic? Wait till you work for/as a lawyer. You will very quickly find out that there ARE such things as stupid questions.

bigjinjapan wrote:It's incredibly unhelpful when you post a question and the replies that come back are 'this has been asked already.' It's basically trolling.

Thanks for the links, and that's good info, but I still don't see why I have to sit and take abuse for asking a fucking question.

You're getting abuse because you asked about using an iPad for actual work. Or at least that's why I'm checking in to abuse you.

I'm actually pretty okay with abusing people over using Apple products for anything.