Blackberry Blackout: In Sunday’s New York Times April 22, 2007), Matt Richtell has an op/ed piece that delves into the psychological reasons for the excessive attachment so many people have to their Blackberry devices — as especially demonstrated during the 12-hour blackout of the Blackberry network last week. In “It Don’t Mean a Thing if You Ain’t Got That Ping,” Richtell asks, “what if what the users were missing was more primitive and insidious than uninterrupted access to information?” Here are some of the notions he uncovered:
- “Experts who study computer use say the stated yearning to stay abreast of things may mask more visceral and powerful needs, as many self-aware users themselves will attest. Seductive, nearly inescapable needs.”
- “Some theorize that constant use becomes ritualistic physical behavior, even addiction, the absorption of nervous energy, like chomping gum. This behavior is then fueled by powerful social motivators. Interaction with a device delivering data gives a feeling of validation, inclusion and desirability.”
“Several years ago, [Harvard psychiatry professor John] Ratey began using the term ‘acquired attention deficit disorder‘ to describe the condition of people who are accustomed to a constant stream of digital stimulation and feel bored in the absence of it. Regardless of whether the stimulation is from the Internet, TV or a cellphone, the brain, he said, is hijacked. “I liken it to a drug,” Mr. Ratey said. “Drug addicts don’t think; they just start moving. Like moving for your BlackBerry.”
Dr. Ratey likens the Blackberry problem “to a food addiction, which is one of the most beguiling for psychiatrists.” After all, he said, “food is essential for life, but problematic in excessive doses. And that’s what makes breaking technology addiction so difficult.”
his power out,
my son calls to talk about
nothing special
…………………………….. by John Stevenson – Acorn, No. 14, 2005
home alone
she blows a kiss
into a cellphone
around and around 
learning the names
of one way streets
just long enough
to leave an impression
dragonfly
……………………………… by Yu Chang
“just long enough” – Upstate Dim Sum (2005/I)
“around and around” – Upstate Dim Sum (2001/II)
“home alone” – Upstate Dim Sum (2004/II)
Thin Ice. Speaking of digital obsessions: I spent far too much time today re-formatting my Jan. 2006 post exploring the source of the maxim “if you’re walkin’ on thin ice, then you might as well dance.” As often happens, I follow a link from our SlimStat page and discover that a visitor came to f/k/a because we had the #1 result in a Google search. This time it was the query: dancin’ thin ice. When I went to see our post, I discovered — as usual — that the formatting of the piece was in some way or other messed up when we changed webserver and weblog software last June. My perfectionism then leads me to try to quickly fix the problem, and the result is almost always a bigger formatting mess (usually having to do with spacing and indentation).
After several repair attempts, I ended up re-doing the entire piece as a new f/k/a Page — again called “dancin’ on thin ice.” The effort was not worth the time and aggravation, but the posting is pretty interesting, for those who missed it the first time and have a little spare time.
The talk of ice, coming as we are receiving our first too-hot (for me) weekend of 2007 here in Schenectady, NY, makes me want to reprise the ice-skating poems from that earlier posting:
coldest day of the year
the lone skater laps
his breath
………………… by George Swede from Almost Unseen
figure skaters on lac la belle pirouetting into snow squalls
cold wind
the sweep of the speed skater’s arms
…………………………………… by ed markowski
dancin’ on thin ice?
the old guy’s
doin’ The Slide
….……………………. by dagosan
haiga from MagnaPoets (April 22, 2007)
round and round with you
dancing
on thin ice
poem: DAVID GIACALONE
photo: ARTHUR GIACALONE orig.photo
