Crack(berry) Kills

It probably didn't come as a surprise to many, but a new survey by Yahoo HotJobs says that the corporate world's reliance on mobile devices is blurring the Work/Life balance lines.

Unless you've been in a coma, the crackberry addiction that has gripped the nation is substantiated by the findings that indicated 26 percent of workers feel like wireless devices keep them on a permanent corporate leash. I'm surprised it was actually this low.

I see this first-hand everyday. There a good numbers of "select" people who are issued these devices in my workplace. And nearly everyone uses them as an additional appendage. What I find most assuming (and annoying) is being in a meeting with these people. Unless the meeting leader is presenting absolutely riveting info, without fail, 10 minutes in, everyone in the room with a crackberry is checking it under the conference table.

I've been able to avoid being issued a crackberry in my working life, and hope to remain that way. However, I do waiver on my need/desire for one. Often, my position has me needing to respond to requests instantly, when you're in PR, it's the nature of the beast. But, what really gets me is when it affects my ability to communicate with others within my organization.

There have been countless times where I've been tied-up in back-to-back meetings and some email goes out asking a question that I could easily resolve. But, too often, in the time I'm away from my computer, a handful of people on the email chain manage to escalate something in my absence. What makes in worse is that things get elevated because the people responding are doing so via crackberry; meaning that the fire off quick answers or opinions that just raise the confusion of things.

This might be my biggest beef (aside from coming in in the morning and seeing emails from all hours of the previous night). The nature of these devices often solicit rapid responses, that are quite frequently never thought out. It drives me nuts.

And it also where I base my argument that technology is killing the human experience. I'm only have serious of course, but I think there is merit to technology eroding people communication skills. This is also quite relevant in the younger generations entering the workforce. The Gen Y'ers have been raised on this stuff, so much so that the art of conversation is becoming lost on them. Gen Y does everything through email, text messages, IM, etc., that they are losing skills. There are undoubtedly stats to support this, but I don't have the time to dig them up now.

Maybe if I had a crackberry, I could dig it up on my commute tomorrow. But, before I get on my soapbox about people using their crackberries while driving, I think I'll call it a night.