The Downside of Our Electronic Leashes
CNN had an article recently on some of the downside of all of the wireless technology available to us. The article suggests that in the past we would go to a conference or on a business trip and be way from the office, returning calls upon our return. Now, if we email someone at 5:00 p.m., we're disappointed if we don't have a reply by the following morning. I am often struck by how much people need to check their blackberries and the like. For example, when I teach graduate classes on Saturday, many of my students run to the hall on their breaks and immediately get on the phone. For what?
The article suggests that because of all of this technology, the barriers between work and time off have blurred considerably. According to the article:
"About 71 percent of America's 108 million households own at least one cell phone, according to Forrester Research Inc. More than 25 million households now own laptop computers, according to Forrester. And 5.3 million households have wireless Internet access. "That doesn't sound like a big number, but it is up from zero a couple of years ago. That is rapid growth," said Charles Golvin, a principal analyst at Forrester."
The good news is that we can connect when necessary and be very productive virtually. The bad news is that we often never get a chance to separate ourselves from all of our work demands.