Do I Have an Addiction to Technology?

I am not a big fan of documentary movies, but every so often I find one that connects to something recent in my life that catches my attention. As I was perusing my personal Zite magazine on my iPad today, I came across some information about a documentary by Tiffany Shlain entitled Connected. This weekend was the theatrical release in select theaters around the United States. After watching the trailer and doing a bit of online reading about the film, it is one that I am looking forward to seeing. Unfortunately, I will have to wait for the DVD release in 2012.

According to Liz Shannon Miller's blog post, A Documentary About Addiction to Technology That Could Save Us, the film "is about the evolution of human communication and how it has changed our lives, for better and for worse."

While I have never faked having to go to the bathroom to check my e-mail (one of the anecdotes from the film), I do understand an addiction to technology and feeling connected. Seeing as my iPhone is never more than a couple of feet away from me and I have multiple other devices around me at home and at work, technology is an important part of my everyday life. I wake up and check everything from the news to my e-mail to my twitter, re-check multiple times throughout the day and then take one last look shortly before going to bed. Even in the middle of typing this I took a break to Skype with my 2 year old nephew who lives in Saskatchewan.

Liz Shannon Miller also talks about a short film entitled Yelp which deals with the idea of "unplugging." I have never tried a weekly ritual of "unplugging" and frankly I would probably have a lot of difficulties sticking to it (especially now with taking this course), but I have had times when I unplug completely. Once a year I go on vacation (usually somewhere hot like Mexico or Cuba), and I turn off my phone when I leave and do not turn it back on until I return. Now I mainly do this because of the costs associated with using my technology outside of the country, but I also enjoy the relaxation that comes along with not being tied to anything (not even a watch).

This year I will not be going on a hot vacation so maybe I will have to challenge myself with a similar period of unplugging here at home and see if I get that same feeling of relaxation.

Here is the trailer for Connected:



Here is Yelp: