As Long As We're Picking on Handheld Users...

"Blackberry Addiction" is a term slowly sliding into our collective consciousness. Basically, a Blackberry addict is someone who finds herself compulsively checking their email and sending text messages via a hand held device (aka "Crackberry"). It has a few different permutations and repercussions.

The first is health-related. Similar to carpal tunnel for typists and "mouse wrist", handheld device addicts are developing strains and sprains, primarily in the joint at the base of the thumb, and are even losing partial functionality in the affected hand in some cases.

The second is, believe it or not, legal. Apparently technology addiction is getting so bad in sectors where employees and executives are required to be tethered (albeit wireless-ly) to the office via devices that a recent Rutgers University study indicated lawsuits may be next. Compulsive workers who cannot unplug from the office wake up and realize they are unhappy with their lives. Rutgers associate professor of management Gayle Porter theorizes that they will start looking for someone to blame and will start at the office.

Finally, there is the stress factor. A device that is supposed to free up time and increase efficiency slowly becomes a leash, tying people to their job all the time. No matter how much people love their jobs, they need time away, too. There's a reason many major employers require people in high-stress positions to take a sabbatical every few years - reduced stress results in increased efficiency when people come back; if they never get away, thanks to their handhelds, efficiency decreases.

Just a little something to think about...