Working with data

Back in 1979 Apple published what is regarded as the first “killer app”, the spreadsheet program VisiCalc (a contraction of “visible calculator”), which turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool and prompted IBM to launch their PC.

VisiCalc’s mantle was soon wrested from it by the superior Lotus 1-2-3 which reigned supreme on the PC until the advent of Windows when Microsoft’s Excel started to outsell it. Today there can be no organisation which does not rely heavily on Excel or an equivalent spreadsheet application for its planning, budgeting and forecasting, accounting … and many other functions.

Working with documents (you found on the internet)

In the connected world, with a multitude of options for consuming and publishing information, we’ve become accustomed to re-using content produced by others to produce or supplement our own current documents. This content may originate in Word documents or PDFs or as web pages; and we may want to publish or distribute our output as Word documents, PDFs or web pages. Most of us approach these tasks in a haphazard fashion, but there is a better way.

Internet skills for lawyers

This article covers some internet skills and tools which may already be second nature to you, but equally may be refreshing ideas which will make your working life that little bit easier.