Don't let the boss get you hooked on BlackBerry . . .

[spindrifter]

The Times August 23, 2006

By Alan Hamilton

THE BlackBerry can be as addictive as hard drugs, so it’s best not to take it on holiday with you, a US study suggests.

<snip>

In a study soon to be published in American academic journals Gayle Porter, professor of management at Rutgers University business school in Camden, New Jersey, foresees the day when workers will be able to sue their employers for insisting that they stay in touch with the office at all times.

“The fast and relentless pace of technology-enhanced work environments creates a source of stimulation that may become addictive,” Professor Porter says. In other words, if you set off on holiday with your BlackBerry, laptop and mobile phone, you may lose forever the ability to shut work out of your mind and relax.

Although she does not mention him by name, Professor Porter may have had Tony Blair in mind, frolicking with his family in Barbados with every conceivable means of communication at hand to help President Bush to run the world.

<more>

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2324940,00.html

[JuniperLea]

1. "Crack"berry

Is what I call them.

I know many addicts...

[Berry Cool]

4. Employers need to understand that there's a reason it is called "vacation"

All the time off we want won't help a bit if we are expected to maintain a line of contact with our offices.

The only way to really relax and refresh is to CUT OFF COMPLETELY...and let others handle whatever crises may arise. You do it for them, they do it for you.

No one should have to take their cell phone, BlackBerry, or laptop on vacation in order to avoid being sued/fired/not thought a "team player." If that's the case, we might as well go back to the days of the six-day work week. When if you got a day off to go to church, you were doing well.

[havocmom]

10. Employers need to understand the concept of HUMAN BEING

as opposed to human doing. There seems to be a denial that humans are not cogs in a machine.

[JuniperLea]

12. I had a SVP get pissed because he locked himself out of the office

over a weekend... and I didn't answer my cell phone... well hell! I was three hours away at a very loud rock concert! Even if I had heard the phone, it would have been hours before I could get there and let his sorry ass in!! Served him right... when he raised his voice at me the following Monday, I was very glad MY boss (and his) was in the next room and heard him go off... and to hear my very excellent excuse as to why I didn't answer my freaking cell phone! Jeez. Some people. That guy got on my nerves... prima freaking donna!

[fairfaxvadem]

9. "Crack"berry is right!!!

That is hilarious! I was directed to get one in March, and put it off for 2 months-total avoidance of the issue in fact.

But, as it turns out, I had to work our convention for a week recently, and it would have been a nightmare without the damn thing, so I'm glad I got it before then.

And it certainly has its uses with my work/school schedule, but I did have to train myself to not constantly check it. I was glad when the "newness" wore off after a few weeks.

[JuniperLea]

11. Just remember...

it does have an "off" function:)

I love sending my boss hilarious (if I do say so myself) messages while I know he is in high-profile meetings... then hearing how he had to hold his nose to keep from cracking up... the perks of being in control of important people:)

I HAVE THE POWER!!! HAHAHAHAA!

[MrModerate]

2. "Just as addictive as hard drugs" -- Poppycock!

Learned, compulsive behavior, perhaps; impaired sense of proportion or personal importance, maybe; but addiction? Give me a break.

Every compulsion is not the same as the physiological changes the body goes through when genuinely addicted.

And the lawsuit angle seems unlikely. While I'm sure it's true that some workers resent being in phone contact with their employers 24/7, in all the places I've worked, a company-provided cell phone is an essential sign of status, and a Blackberry even more so (even for those who never check their email on it).

[JuniperLea]

14. I've seen bosses go into heavy sweats and shakes

while waiting for a new battery or new "crack"berry device to be delivered. Looked like the DT's to me.

I'm talking about a guy who earns over six million a year, who manages eight billion dollars for the high yield division of a Fortune 500 investment firm. He's not your average Joe behind a desk...

[bbinacan]

3. My company offered me

a blackberry and I turned it down.

[Berry Cool]

6. You were the smart one.

Employers sucker employees into thinking that their status will be higher and they will be much more important if they are so "important" that they need to be in constant contact with their offices. That way, they sucker you into always being "on the job" and you don't even realize it because you're so convinced that it's only because "you're important" that they need you so much.

It's like the early days of cell phones. How many people REALLY needed one, vs. those who convinced themselves that they needed one because they were so important the world couldn't not have a way of contacting them?

I think one of the forms of "wealth" in the future will be in the form of having the freedom to NOT "have" to have ANYONE have a way of communicating with you AT ALL unless you WANT to communicate. To be able to go on vacation to a little grass shack in Tahiti where there's no phone, no Internet, no nothing. No way ANYONE can call you and make you fix their latest problem while you're supposed to be relaxing.

[bbinacan]

7. That's exactly why I turned it down

and my cell phone is turned off when I leave work and it's turned off on weekends.

[Pavulon]

5. Mine is off.

in the center console of my car. As I am not on call. I hate the thing, I just use my cell, not as stupid looking.

My job calls me on occasion but the thing is a tool. Like saying people get addicted to 2 way pagers..

Kind of silly, IMHO.

[WinkyDink]

8. No cell-phone, no Blackberry, no answering machine.

Gee. HowEVER have I lived from 1949 to now?!

[ComerPerro]

13. technology has allowed corportions to insist

that people work up to 70, 80, 90 hours per week, without any pay increase.

Its not just requested.

Its expected.

If you aren't willing to put in 40 hours of your own time outside work, while working ten hour days, then you don't have a good work ethic...

[JuniperLea]

15. Exactly!

I told my former boss that when he pays me top EA pay (100K, including stock options, in Los Angeles) THEN and only then I'll be at his disposal just like he is at the disposal of his boss and the board members. Until then, he can wipe his own ass, thank you very much.