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Bah to 24/7 connectivity

2012 has rolled in and we will almost to a man and woman continue be hooked to our mobile devices and computers - to keep in touch, or whatever! Do we really have to be "attached" and "captive" to our mobile devices and computers 24/7? It's an issue - including a health-related one - and question raised by Roger Cohen in his latest op-ed piece for The New York Times.
I’ve just returned to work after a few days with my 90-year-old father in Scotland. He lives without any access to e-mail or hand-held devices. It was interesting observing the effects of this vacuum on my teenage children, suddenly unable to center their lives around their laptops (and the screen-lowering gesture that seems to accompany the entry of an adult). They started to read voraciously. They were communicative. They got up earlier. To be fair, they also had a Dad with them who was not device distracted.
It’s the start of a new year, a time for resolutions. To each his own, but I know this: Nobody will ever lie on his or her deathbed and say: “I should have kept my device on longer.”

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