Ever felt naked without your phone? Ever dreaded the thought of walking somewhere without the comfort of your MP3 player? There are growing concerns that people are becoming increasingly addicted to portable technology with one of the main concerns being the blurring of the line between work and private life.
After all, who wants a text from their boss at 2am asking them to come into work early the next day, or an email over dinner attached with their ‘to do’ list for the following work day?
This ‘technology overload’ is due to the proliferation of portable technology products available on today’s market, with new mobile phone styles being released everyday and new internet ‘must have’ websites such as Facebook encouraging people to buy laptops in order to check their ‘wall messages’ whenever they please. As Nada Kakabadse, a Professor at the Northampton Business School says; “It’s addiction to portable technology which you take with you practically to bed, the cinema, to the theatre, to a dinner party.’‘
This obsession is not only causing the blurring of the line between the work and private life, but is also causing people to be less sociable, spending minimal time with their family and friends and more time with their thumbs on a mobile phone or their ears plugged with an ipod.
There are split opinions about this issue. Many people admit, especially the younger generations, that they do struggle to last an hour or so without making contact with their mobile and that they spend a fair few hours a day glued to their laptop.
After all, there are plenty of times when we rely solely on the company of our portable technology. For example, delayed train journeys when we can’t be bothered to make conversation, especially as the person you are sat next to is normally some weird, prison escapee lookalike.
Although some may argue, as Professor Fred Mast of the University of Lausanne does, that “perhaps we are underestimating the brain’s capacity to adapt to new challenges and that ‘technology overdose’ can actually enhance people’s cognitive abilities, helping them to process more information at the same time.”
Others however believe that this new addiction to technology is actually impairing our judgement and decision-making processes.
But surely it comes down to our own power in decision-making? Surely we choose whether we want to spend our time surfing the internet when we should be working, or isolating ourselves with music when we could be communicating with others.
The main issue here is prioritising. As Anneka Buckle, a second year Journalism student says, “I love walking to lectures having a catch-up with my friends, but I couldn’t live without my ipod at the gym.’‘
Some would argue that although they feel they are able to prioritise their use of technology to a certain extent, sometimes it is not that straightforward. As Anna Milewski states, “I have three mobile phones. One for general everyday use, one for work and one solely to call my boyfriend on. Although I try to escape them, I struggle to find a time when at least one of them isn’t glued to my ear.’‘
It is believed one of the main reasons for this technology addiction is the media. With so many different media forms now becoming linked, it is hard to watch television without being encouraged to use your mobile phone. The second you connect your laptop to the internet, you are bombarded with free phone ring tones and free music downloads.
If we are unable to escape the myriad of portable technology reminders coming at us from all angles, is it at all surprising that obsessions are developing?
If you notice you are isolating yourself by choosing your MP3 player over your friends, or you fail to hand in a piece of coursework because you were up the night before researching on Facebook rather than in the library, you may well have developed an addiction and I think changes need to be made to your lifestyle. After all, technology obsession is not cool.
