Do you show too much PDA with your PDA?
What constitutes an interpersonal relationship? Consider the following quote from a recent report:
New technology continues to transform the way we live and work with 85% of U.S. professionals surveyed said that because of new technology, they feel compelled to be connected to work 24/7 and 81% say they work harder than they did five years ago. So just how addicted are we as a society to staying connected? Well, the vast majority of people (84%) say they check their PDA’s just before going to bed and as soon as they wake up, 85% say they sneak a peak at their PDA in the middle of the night, and 80% say they check their e mail before morning coffee. A whopping 87% of professionals bring their PDA into the bedroom, and in what may or may not be a related finding, more than one-third of folks surveyed (35%) say if forced to choose, they’d pick their PDA over their spouse!
You can read the entire text here. What do you think? Is this ‘natural’? ‘Normal’? An ‘addiction’?
You can also read a blog post of mine at Psychology Today on the relation between people and technology, entitled “When AT&T asked us to ‘Reach out and touch someone’, did they mean that literally?”
By the way, I’m in an exclusive relationship with my iPhone; I’ll never cheat on it with any other PDA.
I believe that this relationship that people have with their PDA is natural and is the result of the increased speed of communication. We are a society that constantly strives to raise our own efficiency by any means necessary. To this end, it has become essential for us to stay on top of our business and personal dealings constantly so that we do not miss any important information or find ourselves without enough time to respond accordingly. Personally, I do check my blackberry as soon as I wake up, right before going to sleep, during the night, and all throughout the day. It helps me stay organized and carry on important conversations with a vast number of people at the same time.
I would not quite call a PDA “dependence” an addiction unless someone personally develops a strong, irrational anxiety when separated from their PDA. In general people tend to control, or organize multiple aspects of their life through their PDA so it would not be irrational at all for them to feel some distress without it.
Jason Clarke (PSY-260 MWF-8am, PSY-364 MWF-9am
I think that the people who have such a strong connection to their technology have a problem. Staying ‘connected’ to the internet to get the latest news all of the time is not completely necessary. Such a relationship with technology can be unhealth as people start to care more about their gadget rather then the people around them (such is the case with that 33% mentioned…). Something simliar is going on with the popular PC MMO World of Warcraft where some of the players died from an addiciton to the game due to lack of food/water.
I would say that it is borderlining addiction when it become necessary for people to take their PDA to bed with them so they don’t miss anything and when the feel the need to check it in the middle of the night.
Greg Howlett (PSY 101 MWF 2:00-2:50pm)
Well, this article is so specifically for professional persons. However, I think the youth becomes more addicted to higher technology as well. Take an example; students overcheck their email and surf internet nowadays. Without a job, he or she can check emails more than 10 times/ day which he or she doesn’t necessary to do that. Experts research that people need to spend an average 15 minutes for checking email. That is such a waste. Cellphone is another problem. People tend to bring it in class and texts message their friends while the professor is lecturing, which made me get mad sometime. I personally don’t like a cellphone which is distracting and I may waste lots of time to chatting unnecessary thing with my friends. However, it is really a need. Technologies give us the ease to assessing information and updating news. One thing I don’t know about technology is if it help our relationship or not. Some said that with technology, it is easier to connect with friend whenever and wherever. Yet, the problem is we tend to simplify our relationship communication, just through the cell phone or in front of computer screen, but face to face as before.
Quynh Le (PSY 101 MWF 2:00-2:50PM)
Technology has more or less taken over our lives and it is no news that a lot of people today are just inseperable from their devices. The PDA today is one such device that has caused a lot of unrest in many people’s lives. I personally am extremely irritated when someone while sitting with is constantly with his or her PDA. It is a problem, but, not to the extent of it being called an ‘addiction’ but, yes it is today intruding people’s lives to an extent that it needs to be curbed in some form or the other.
Tanveer Sandhu
PSY 101-004
MWF 2-250 PM