One of the best new friendships I made at this year’s ABA TechShow, was Ernie Svenson (Twitter), a.k.a. Ernie the Attorney. Ernie is a New Orleans-based attorney as well as an established technology blogger and podcaster. Ernie is also a very charming guy and jazz aficionado.

So Ernie, what is on your home screen?

What are your most interesting home screen apps?

I like the Foodspotting app, which is in my ‘food’ folder. People take pictures of dishes at local restaurants and upload them to Foodspotting, so with the GPS ability of the iPhone you can find nearby eats based on delectable pictures. In New Orleans I find this to very helpful because there are so many great places to eat.

What is your favorite app?

I LOVE the Siri app. It is the perfect example of advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic. I can’t believe how easy it is to find local businesses and then call them. Dragon Dictation and Shazam are probably on equal footing in the same way.

Which app is your guilty pleasure?

Words with Friends, no doubt. I don’t like to play games, but this is Scrabble in a way that enhances social connections.  No one seems to have time to play a real game of Scrabble but almost everyone I know has been playing Words with Friends and loves it.  

How many screens have you filled?

Before the folders feature arrived it was 9 screens, but now I’ve got it down to a manageable 4 screens.  I’m a sucker for the promise of a new app, but I find that there are only about 15 apps that I rely on regularly.

What is the app you are still missing?

I really don’t think I’m missing anything.  I’m amazed at the apps that I would never even have thought were possible. I used to have a guitar tuner, but I found an app that does the same thing and just as well as a dedicated tuner. So I got rid of that. I also no longer have a point-and-shoot camera. 

How many times a day do you use your iPhone?

I use it constantly for things like checking the weather, reading Twitter posts, searching for information, monitoring tasks, text messaging and of course phone calls.
 

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone?

I don’t use it every day, but I love the feature that lets me hold down the home button and then tell my phone to call someone or to play one of my iTunes playlists. Once again: total magic.
 

If you were Steve Jobs, what would you add to the iPhone?

A light saber laser for carving holiday turkeys.  

Anything else you’d like to share?

Just that, if folks don’t know about my friend Jeff Richardson’s excellent blog iPhoneJD.com, that they should check it out. Jeff does an outstanding job of covering useful apps for the iPhone.  The focus is on things that help lawyers, but most of what he talks about would be useful for anyone. 

Thanks Ernie!