Legal Technology-1982 Update
| Publication year | 1982 |
| Pages | 3015 |
1982, December, Pg. 3015. Legal Technology-1982 Update
The year 1982 opened to new vistas in law office automation. While the penetration of automation into the legal market is quite limited, many firms are exploring the possibility of using computers to create new profit centers and to halt uncontrolled overhead growth. The advertising blitz for personal computers has stirred a new awareness in automation. This month's column provides a brief overview of some of this year's changes in computer technology.
The latest financial news releases indicate that only seven of the many dedicated word processing companies are profitable. Since more than 400 vendors offer word processing software (though not all are dedicated word processing companies), some dramatic changes due to competition have occurred within the industry. Some vendors, such as Savin, have abruptly departed from the market. Others, such as AM International, the computer division (Jacquard) was divested. Some major vendors are awash in a sea of red ink.
Attorneys considering purchasing a system should insist on viewing financial statements, either of the company or the division, and should keep pace with news in the Wall Street Journal or similar business news publications. Consider asking the salesperson what will happen if the company goes out of business or elects not to continue in the word processing market.
Until recently, nearly all of the microcomputer systems for law firm applications were powered by 8-bit processors, notably the Intel 8080 and the Zilog Z-80 chips. Now there is some trend toward 16-bit processors, e.g., Intel 8086. The best explanation of 16-bit technology is to assume that an 8-bit system is like a two-lane road and the 16-bit system is like a four-lane road. This does not mean that the 16-bit system is twice as good as an 8-bit system; although it can carry more traffic, it may not necessarily get the job done any faster.
Some vendors would like to tout the 16-bit machine as making the 8-bit hardware obsolete. Unfortunately for the 16-bit system, the rush to it was somewhat premature---the software to support the new hardware did not yet exist. The interim solution was to create hardware with dual processors, with both...
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