Review: ThinkGeek TK-421 Bluetooth Keyboard for iPhone

In my gift roundup for Harvard Business Review last week, I wrote that the secret to buying gadget gifts for early adopters is “to surprise us with something so new that it hasn’t yet arrived at Best Buy”. The item I suggested was a keyboard case for...

Locative technologies help us redefine what presence means

Simon King has a provocative blog post about the relationship between using technologies on-location, and actually being present in the location where you’re checking. He begins by comparing e-readers and smartphones to books or magazines: In my experience,...

Spice up your dates with technology

The new Italian restaurant in our neighborhood was the perfect place to celebrate our eighth wedding anniversary. We settled into a cozy table for two and turned our attention to the menu. It wouldn’t be easy to decide on our courses: The menu included almost...

How to use your iPad for family multitasking

Yesterday’s blog post about the merits of buying an iPad provoked some questions about overconsumption, as well as a shout-out from a fellow sofa commuter. In the tug-of-war between buying a device that is sofa optimized, versus buying one less thing because we...

How to password-protect yourself from iPhone addiction

iPhone contact has become reflexive. The five minutes before a meeting, the two-minute walk to the coffee shop, the 10 seconds between parking the car and walking in the front door: they’re all moments when I automatically reach for the iPhone.

If my iPhone were a cigarette, I’d be a chain smoker. If my iPhone were a bottle of scotch, I’d be a hard-core alcoholic. If it were a rosary I’d be a religious zealot.

There’s nothing I could touch as frequently as I touch my iPhone without looking like a total freak.

What makes me think that the constant, obsessive iPhone contact is any less freaky? Or more to the point, any less addictive?