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The growth of the daily newspaper during the nineteenth century brought about a major change in the way people viewed the world around them. Suddenly, people were able to receive news in a timely and inexpensive fashion. By the early twentieth century, a plethora of newspapers existed in all but the smallest localities, each striving for higher circulation numbers and influence, and each printed by a different group of people with their own interests and agendas.

A similar situation exists today regarding the Internet -- no one can argue with the fact that the Internet contains an enormous amount of information from a variety of sources, including a number of alternative voices. Unfortunately, the Internet is decentralized so finding the right information in a timely manner can prove difficult even the most fastidious of lawyers. Enter AvantGo.

AvantGo is a new age clipping service that essentially puts users in charge of the proverbial printing press, thereby enabling them to roll their own newspaper. After choosing their sources from a variety of so-called "channels," users receive updated articles on their Palm OS or Pocket PC PDA through desktop synchronization, or through a wireless, real-time Internet connection if they are so blessed as to have such a hot commodity. The portability of a typical PDA means that AvantGo users can read the downloaded information in situations in which they used to waste time -- airplanes, airports, daily commute, soccer practice with the kids, etc.

Setting up AvantGo involves a simple two-step process.

First, users must download the free software from AvantGo's Web site. The AvantGo software comes in two parts -- one for the computer and another for the PDA. The amount of memory required for the AvantGo application varies depending upon the type of device and processor used.

Second, upon first launching AvantGo, the software takes users to the AvantGo Web site so that they can begin the process of rolling their own newspaper. AvantGo's Web site contains a well-organized directory of channels optimized for the small screen of a PDA. Users can browse and search through a number of sources within each channel, and simply click to subscribe. A typical AvantGo channel consumes about 50Kb, with larger ones consuming around 100Kb. If memory ever becomes an issue, users can unsubscribe from a channel or two, or add more memory.

After the next synchronization, the newly selected sources appear on the PDA. Basically, the desktop application looks for an active Internet connection. If it finds one, the application grabs new data from the person's selected channels and sends it to the PDA, updating it with the latest information.

AvantGo does not depend on having a modem (wireless or wired) attached to the PDA. Users merely need an Internet connection on the computer that will synchronize with the PDA. However, AvantGo's software also works as a regular browser on PDAs with direct Internet connections, which enable users to view Web sites and download information for later perusal. Certain AvantGo content also works with Web-enabled mobile phones. Since the information downloaded from the Web appears in HTML format, the pages viewed often contain graphics and fonts (though certain elements, such as frames, do not appear on a PDA's small screen).

AvantGo's Web site contains a growing list of channels to which users can subscribe for free. All types of interests are covered. Specifically, the current set of channels consists of Business, City/Regional, Entertainment, Lifestyle, News, Portals, Science & Technology, Sports, Travel, Weather, and Wireless. The sources within each channel number in the hundreds and range from front page New York Times articles to ski reports to My Yahoo! to MapQuest. Users can also create custom channels and download information from virtually any Web site.

As a lawyer and technology enthusiast, I have found a number of interesting and informative sources. For example, I receive complete front page stories and book reviews from the New York Times; stock prices and financial news from Bloomberg; a daily newsletter from Slate that reports on how the major papers have treated the day's hot topics; technology-oriented news from Wired; and Palm OS news from PalmInfocenter.com, PalmPower Magazine, PDABuzz.com, and Tap Magazine.

Currently, AvantGo contains only three legal-specific sources -- PalmLaw, which features articles about the use of PDAs in legal practice; BankruptcyData.Com, which provides corporate bankruptcy information; and State Bar of Michigan e-Journal, which provides summaries of Michigan and Federal court opinions organized by topic. As AvantGo grows in popularity, the number of official and user-submitted sources will doubtless explode far beyond the already-impressive number available today.

The user-submitted sources in particular makes for a growing sense of community and shared information. These sources may not look as good on a PDA's small screen as the official, optimized AvantGo channels, but they may very well feature such targeted information that it becomes a business necessity.

Personally, I enjoy having the ability to make productive use of a few spare minutes here and there. Thanks to Avantgo, I can catch up on the day's news from several different viewpoints and read publications I might not otherwise have even known about let alone read. Generally, I HotSync with my Palm right before heading out to lunch so I can read while standing in line. I do the same before heading to the airport for a business trip. Lawyers with long commutes are perhaps the greatest beneficiaries of AvantGo (provided they're not driving). Apart from the basic applications built into my Palm, AvantGo has become the program I use most often. It turns my PDA into a portable newspaper, providing convenient and thorough access to many types of information. AvantGo just might become the killer app of mobile computing.

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