I did something terrible this morning.  I left the house without my trusty iPhone, and didn’t realise my grave error until I was driving down the motorway, running much too late to turn back.  Sad to admit, I gave an actual gasp of horror.  How would I survive?!

It really made me think… have we become a bit too dependant on our little miracle devices?  I felt distinctly uneasy all day long without instant access to my diary, my contacts – without even the means to text someone to tell them I was running late (which I inevitably was, since – like most of us – I usually rely on the phone to tell me the time…)  What if someone was trying to contact me and couldn’t?  WOULD THE WORLD STILL TURN???

Well now that I’m back home and we’re reunited, it seems that somehow, civilisation did survive.  A few people had to wait a few hours for my response to their text or message.  They didn’t burst into tears, hate me or abandon all hope.  It all seems to have worked out OK…

Appropriately enough, listening to the radio on my way home in the car (because, y’know, I couldn’t listen to music on the iPhone) I heard people discussing the recent hardware blip that has left BlackBerry users out of contact for days.  While acknowledging how frustrating it was for those affected, one man told the story of how he lived without a phone for 3 months – and how peaceful life became as a result.  Without the ability to continually check for messages or seek stimulus, he spent more time daydreaming, looking, thinking, just being.  He recommended that all of us try to plan ‘unplugged’ time into our diaries on a regular basis.  A kind of technological Sabbath.

Good advice, I reckon.  So I’m writing this blog to post on the website and Facebook and I’ll write a memo on the iPhone.