Why I am addicted to mobile tech

I don't try to hide my affection, or rather my addiction to small shiny things that go beep. Covering mobile tech and the gadgets behind it for a decade have made my affliction clear to anyone following my work. My addiction is deep-seated, the thought of going without my mobile gadgets makes me feel uneasy. 

I am not alone; the growth of the mobile industry is proof of that. The staggering sales of the latest smartphones, tablets, and notebooks shows that millions are now welcoming mobile technology into the very core of their lives. 

Using and enjoying technology does not an addiction make, it's the reaction to doing without it that defines the condition. If you, like me, get very nervous when cut off from your mobile gear then most likely you are addicted, too.

My addiction is not a product of the reasons most people associate with such a condition. Sure, I like being always connected, having instant access to people far and wide, and being able to put my finger on that nugget of information I need without hesitation.

No, my addiction stems much deeper than the common reasons. I am enamored with mobile tech because I remember what it was like before it existed. 

I remember when there were not only no smartphones, but no mobile phones at all. When you needed to find out something from a friend or coworker you had to wait until you got back to the office or home to call them. If you were lucky they were also at a phone where you could reach them. Otherwise you waited for the information you needed, sometimes even until the next day.

This was back before Al Gore invented the Internet, the source of instant information and communication. When I needed to learn something I went to the library like everyone else. I searched for hours through the sources of information of the time, looking for that one piece of information I needed. It didn't matter that those references were years old by the time they were printed. They were the primary source of available information.

For any information more current, there was the daily newspaper. Those used to be printed every day on real paper, and got your hands all smudgy when you read them. They kept us informed, at least on a daily basis, and we craved the information they provided. No matter that they were no more accurate in the end than similar sources today, they were what we had and we trusted them implicitly.

This is why I am still in wonder over the amount of information that mobile technology puts at my fingertips today. There is no end to the information at my beck and call, from smartphone to tablet. If I need to know, I can find out without hesitation or lost time searching. It is mind-boggling.

Now you know the source of my addiction to mobile tech. My constant thirst for information is thoroughly abated by the mobile technology in my pocket. There is nothing I can't find out when the hankering hits me, and it is liberating.

Because I remember how things were before this technology existed, I am fine with admitting my addiction to it today. While taking a holiday from mobile tech occassionally is a good thing, I am fine with my dependence on it. I embrace it, enjoy it, and will continue to use it until the last battery dies.

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