The Old Blackberry-and-Chain

Feb 23

Ball-and-chain

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.

About the Author

Frank Roche

Frank started IFRACTAL over 7 years ago with Sarah Chambers. Together, they've created HR communications and HR software for some of the world's leading companies. Frank is also studying Flamenco guitar and origami.

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Comments

Bill Strahan says:

February 23, 2007 at 4:29 pm

Finger Puppet are the artificial intelligence of Blackberrys

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Frank Roche says:

February 23, 2007 at 5:20 pm

Bill, LOL. Finger puppets fall into the “retro is new” category.

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albert says:

February 26, 2007 at 2:56 am

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?

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Frank Roche says:

February 26, 2007 at 8:08 am

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.

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