Alec Saunders SquawkBox

In Survey: Blackberry owners chained to work, Ars Technica writer Jacqui Cheng reports on SRG’s new Digital Life America study on the ‘Always On’ culture.  A third of the 1600 people surveyed said “Yes” when asked if Blackberry, and devices like it, chain you to work.  A third were neutral, and a further third disagreed.   Interestingly, 46% agreed with the statement that “Technology like email and cellphones give people more time to do the things they like”.

Confusing and inconclusive.

The only really conclusive results from the research was that Blackberry users actually did work more.

Regardless of how users felt, though, survey results showed that those who owned a BlackBerry were, in fact, more likely to work long hours than those who didn’t. 19 percent of BlackBerry-owning survey respondents reportedly worked more than 50 hours a week, compared to only 11 percent of the general population. A higher percentage of BlackBerry owners also felt that they didn’t have enough personal time in their lives—53 percent, compared to the 40 percent average. Finally, the average household income of BlackBerry owners was nearly 50 percent higher than the national average, at about $94,000, indicating that those who own BlackBerry-like devices may share some more overachieving (or is that overworking?) personality traits.

We’re an over achieving bunch, aren’t we?  Now… back to email.

The Wall Street Journal has tapped into the controversy around phone calls and email messages during meetings.  Paul Kedrosky picked up on it with his comment that he thinks it’s OK to do it discretely, once in a while, but the sentiment from his commenters is running against.  Paul Sweeney points out that iotum’s Talk-Now is about solving this problem. 

Exactly!

Checking your email during a meeting is sometimes necessary, especially if your day is back-to-back meetings.  That’s reality.  Discretely doing it, without conveying the message to other participants that the topic of the meeting is not interesting, is the name of the game.