When does the BlackBerry become the CrackBerry?

Over on The Juggle there is an interesting discussion going on regarding the boundaries and limits with respect to BlackBerry use.  When does work interfere with family?  Does this technology actually make balance of multiple responsibilities easier? 

From this blog post by Sue Shellenbarger –

But there’s evidence that President-elect Obama’s BlackBerry habit has crossed some private work-family boundaries too. Last summer, news cameras recorded the candidate pulling out his BlackBerry at his daughter’s soccer game, only to have Michelle Obama slap his hand. He promptly returned the gadget to its holster.

When does your BlackBerry become your CrackBerry, damaging family life? The WSJ documented the trend of “BlackBerry orphans” a couple of years ago. One parent’s incessant e-mailing so exasperated her four-year-old that the child tried to flush Mom’s BlackBerry down the toilet.

Another Wall Street Journal reporter tells the Juggle he tried with his wife to set a no-BlackBerry rule in their bedroom. But the plan crumbled this summer, when the financial crisis plunged him into nonstop reporting deadlines.

Followed by many telling comments.  Here are just a few that caught my eye.

 will never forget the time we went camping 2 summers ago. It was a beautiful day, and the kids were wading in a creek that flowed into a little pond. My husband and I were also in the creek, to supervise. I was totally enjoying the day, watching the kids skipping rocks, and feeling the water. And then I noticed my husband, standing there in the creek, furiously scrolling his Blackberry. And what was he doing? Was he dealing with some work crisis? No! He was checking baseball scores every 15 seconds, like a Skinner rat.

Comment by ratgirlny – November 18, 2008 at 12:29 pm

 

I think a BB has really improved my efficiency and my overall level of self satisfaction. Now I actually feel better about being out of the office, because I know I’m still in contact and people can still reach me. Virtually any kind of activity has some down time associated with it, and you can fill that with catching up on your BB: waiting at stoplights, riding escalators, standing in line at Starbucks, whatever. I never check it when I’m in conversation with someone (that’s rude), but I don’t see that checking it on my off time is really that intrusive, when if I didn’t have it I might be in the office and not have off time at all. Or if I trouble sleeping, it’s a great way to kill time while waiting for the Zzs to start again.

Comment by Every minute counts – November 18, 2008 at 2:16 pm