The Continuing Rise of Legal Tech Vendors

Legal technology companies are expanding. Their aim is to become the one-stop shop for a holistic, integrated solution for law firms. The goal is to speed up and relieve attorneys from tasks including “legal research”. So how many attorneys do their own legal research? As covered in Softlink IC’s February 2019 blog post, the future of outsourcing the law firm library may be a reality particularly for small to medium sized firms. But, don’t discount that move by big law firms.

Is the Global Internet Disintegrating?

The internet is increasingly the frontier for sovereign control. For some countries, doing so is a means to control or “protect” their citizens from so called “fake news”. As for whether news is fake… well that’s a whole different topic and a contested idea in many countries. A slow movement towards an “authoritarian” style of internet may increasingly compromise access to information. For those who sit firmly in the middle between authoritarain and open, the challenge and expense is significant.

Sweden’s Floating Libraries

Floating libraries have been operating around the Stockholm archipelago since 1953. They have provided a needed and well loved bi-annual visit to those who do not live on the “mainland”. Not that the future of many libraries is particularly certain, the Swedish floating libraries are more aware of their mortalitiy. But until such time as authorities see fit to decide their service is not required they keep up the great work.

Interesting fact – the city of Stockholm is made up of 14 islands. There are thousands more islands in the archipelago but many are just really big rocks!

Another Glimpse into Technology History

This time it is the Texas Instruments Silent 700 terminal. First introduced in 1971, it was absolutely the thing in “portable” terminals. With a mximum speed of 300 bits per second, users could access a remote computer from any telephone from what is described as a “built-in acoustic coupler”. It also included a built-in thermal printer. A true classic!