The New York Times article on the story can be found here.

If Barack Obama can run America without his Blackberry why can’t you run your life without it?

No longer will he be able to get instant updates on what the Chicago White Sox are doing or what his sister is up to in Hawaii. He won’t be able to check in with friends, family or other close confidants. No more Facebook, Yahoo, or Twitter for personal use. Barack Obama has become property of these United States.

I recently bet a family member that he couldn’t go a week without checking his Blackberry. He, like Barack Obama, is a Blackberry addict. My family member truly believes that he can’t do without it. Needless to say he declined my offer.

For a variety of different legal and safety issues, President-elect Obama is about to give up email and his Blackberry. Yes, after a long and storied affair with his Blackberry, Barack Obama will give his Blackberry up upon entering the Oval office.

I think this brings up some interesting questions that you might ask yourself.

Let’s say you negotiating to buy a new home and you’d have to give up email to seal the deal. Would you do it? Could you do it?

If in order to get your dream job, you’d have to give up Facebook, would you do it? Could you give up all email for the job? Could you give up your cell phone?

In the past, I have no doubt derided all these technologies as false prophets of personal connectivity. Remember the information superhighway? Or did you already crash along the way? These devices often serve more as barriers to creativity, our relationships and the personal connections we all crave.

Even worse, technology may have killed the art of conversation. Remember those? Where two people interested in what each other had to say, actually talked to each other in person. If you’re under the age of twenty-five, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. Just go ask your grandmother what it is and she’ll also regale you with stories of rotary phones and long distance calls

If you’re as concerned as I am with the state of communication in this great world of ours, then I have a quick and easy suggestion for you.

Take the lead of some of America’s leading companies. Companies like U.S. Cellular, Deloitte & Touche and Intel have banned emails from coming in or going out on Fridays and have in turn seen productivity and communication soar.

See their story here: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119205641656255234.html

These companies realized that an avalanche of impersonal communication will never be as productive as a heartfelt conversation in the flesh. So as fast and convenient as texts and emails can be, companies are finding out that they’re far more productive without them. Kind of ironic don’t you think?

Why don’t you take a leaf from their book and do the same?

Popularity: 1% [?]

There probably hasn’t been a better relationship killing device ever invented than the Blackberry. And now I have a survey to prove it!

The Chicago Tribune had a great article on the subject and Rewind with Anna Davlantes featured an illuminating segment on it so I felt the need to weigh in on it.

If you have not seen what all the hub bub is all about then let me fill you in. Never fail Inc commissioned a survey on Blackberry use among Americans. What they found while not surprising to me is nonetheless scary:

• One out of three would prefer time with their Blackberry than their spouse
• Four out of five have used it while driving and in the bathroom
• 11% have deferred to it while romantically involved with another person
• Almost one out of six have used it at a funeral

If this doesn’t give one pause, I don’t know what will. Does the term Blackberry widow send shudders down your spine? If not, then you ought to stop reading anything I write NOW.

I feel like I’m beating a dead horse, but I see today’s technology as a catch 22. We can’t live with it and we can’t live without it. I guess its just like the early days of the internet: ubiquitous. Yet, no matter how many bars you have, your phone and your computer will only break you and your loved ones apart. I feel like I’m on an island yet the stats continue to back me up.

Popularity: 1% [?]