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...

Should you buy an iPad?

Last weekend we made the great pilgrimage across the border so that we could get iPads on the day of their release. The iPad won’t be available in Canada until the end of the month, and it seemed unfathomable to wait 20 days for a product that actually describes...

Even in a virtual world, where you live still matters

One of the fantasies that comes from living online is that it doesn’t matter where you are based if you’re hooked into the net. But in the process of disentangling my online address book — arguably essential to living life online — I came...

On Oprah.com: 6 ways to be a better parent online

If it takes a village to raise a child, that village no longer needs to be defined by the place you happen to live. This post for Oprah.com shows how to find online support to help you be a better parent online and offline.

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?