Crackberry diagnoses
Monday, March 10th, 2008A new study out today claims to have identified a new disorder — disconnect anxiety – that apparently affects nearly two-thirds of users of wireless devices when the connection goes down. The BlackBerry blackout that happened a couple of weeks back apparently inspired palpitations and sweaty palms among those who can’t even consider being away from email or PINs.
The symptoms include keeping your cellphone or PDA with you at virtually all times. Taking it into the bathroom with you. Visiting Facebook at least once a day. Sending text messages or e-mails on off-work hours, such as evenings and weekends. Guilty! But I - and others like me - think calling this a “disorder” is all in the eye of the beholder.
What if, like me, you only answer an urgent note on a weekend? Or, what if you answer a non-urgent note to a friend you might otherwise have a quick phone conversation with? It’s all rather vague and broad, if you ask me! But, maybe I’m in denial.
We had some good natured fun at the expense of reporter Katie Simpson who apparently dropped her BlackBerry into the bathtub while sending an email. But, had she been talking on the phone, would it have been as funny?
In my world, the BlackBerry substitutes for the telephone a lot. It’s just easier sometimes to send a quick text message, and I for one am not a fan of chatting on a cellphone in public or being near anyone else who is doing so. I will admit to acting urgently to non-urgent messages, sometimes, during working hours. But that’s a bid to get the responsibility for whatever it is “off my plate” and to not procrastinate. Yes, I have a million excuses, but they make sense to me. And as long as a person isn’t infringing or impinging on the lives of others, isn’t that what matters?
