The ball-and-chain was a restraint used in Sing-Sing prison. Now, for corporate prisoners, there’s the Blackberry-and-chain, which has the same effect on the workforce as the original. Jacqui Cheng at Ars Technica reports on a recent survey that asked “whether devices like the BlackBerry ‘chain you to work more than they liberate you.’” :
[S]urvey 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.
That’s a lot of thumb work. Hey, HR, is BlackBerry thumb eligible for Worker’s Comp? I’m thinking of making my fortune now…I can just see it: BlackBerry RSI Exercise Class for the four million Blackberry users out there. It’ll be like Tai Bo for the text message crowd. You can count on finger puppets.
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Finger Puppet are the artificial intelligence of Blackberrys
Bill, LOL. Finger puppets fall into the “retro is new” category.
aren’t people who qualify for work-issued blackberries usually in upper management positions? shouldn’t those people, who are being paid the big bucks, work longer hours?
Albert, I must say that I was a little surprised by the stats…only 19% work 50 hours or more. There is almost no one I know – or have known – who works less that that. It might say a little bit about the consulting field, but wow. And yes, a few more hours, yes. A whole bunch more not connected to electronics would be great.