I Just Want To Play Some Black Eyed Peas
link $1000 iPhone App Returns with BarMax – PC World
Not only has the Apple Ipod/Iphone platform revolutionized how we interface with our handheld communications products, it is now promising to play a prominent role in addressing a serious shortage in the nation’s labor force. An app has been developed that is due for imminent release dubbed BarMax. What is this app that costs about $1000, yes you read right, $1000??.
This is an app to help people prepare for the legal bar exam and includes thousands of pages of notes as well as hours of audio lectures. No more will people use the innocuous ipod touch for pedestrian roles such as music player or virtual paper tosser. Now you can use this device to further yourself into a more lucrative career. The best thing is, you can do this in the comfort of your car as you take a long road trip or while running on the treadmill. Long haul truck drivers in particular will find this useful to pass those long hours on the road. The downside is that as time goes on, we’ll run out of truck drivers, but we’ll work on that later.
Just as an illustration of how dire is this shortage of lawyers, I show some stats courtesy of Wiki answers as of 2007;
Country Lawyers Population People/Lawyer
US: Lawyers: 1,143,358 Pop: 303MM P/L:265
Brazil: Lawyers: 571,360 Pop: 186MM P/L: 326
New Zealand: Lawyers: 10,523 Pop: 4MM P/L 391
Spain Lawyers:114,143 Pop: 45MM P/L:395
Italy Lawyers:121,380 Pop: 59MM P/L:488
UK Lawyers:151,043 Pop: 61MM P/L401
Germany Lawyers:138,679 Pop: 82MM P/L: 593
France Lawyers:45,686 Pop: 64MM P/L: 1,403
Of course, Americans are much better off than the nation at the bottom of this short list which would be France with a measly 1 lawyer for every 1,403 people. How they can call themselves civilized is mystery. Perhaps they settle things the old fashioned way, with pistol duels at daybreak. It was surprising to see Brazil and New Zealand near the top of the list, we’ll have to look into that for future insightful analysis. I didn’t know there was anything worth suing over in those countries.
With all these sharp legal minds populating the nation and presumably with many more to come thanks to Apple, we are certain to remain at the top of the list of civilized societies. There are some other statistics to consider before getting fitted for that powdered wig. According to insideprison.com:
“…The National Center for State Courts reported that tort filings steadily decreased over the past ten years, dropping by 9 percent between 1992 and 2002, and in Texas in particular, where the rate of filings fell by 37 percent between 1990 and 2000, and in California, falling 45 percent…”
You wouldn’t know this from all the high profile nuisance suits you hear about, such as coffee being too hot etc etc. What is interesting is this next revelation:
“…Plaintiffs also end up losing about half the time they go to trial, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics…In addition, when plaintiffs do win, the lawsuit reward is getting smaller all the time…”
Hmm this is taking some of the incentive out of this. Maybe just stick to music player. I’m not so sure I’d want to be represented by someone who graduated from the University of Apple Law School.