They say that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. That the Blackberry portable email device was invented and promoted to reduce wasted “down-time” suggests that carrying one may be injurious, if not to health, certainly to a rounded personality, given what we know about the physical and mental requirement for “recovery” (see yesterday’s post on Henman).

In the past week, it is noteworthy that both the Financial Times and Economist have commented on the Blackberry phenomenon; the FT in response to an internal evaluation as to the tool’s usefulness for senior journalists, and the Economist to describe a growing backlash against the addictive and timewasting characteristics that many users, their bosses and spouses are becoming victims of. This is known as “Crackberry.” Implicit in the FT coverage is that the Blackberry is the new new thing, while for the Economist they are increasingly passe: different media views from within the same stable of ownership.

The Economist rightly argues that all new technologies have their negative side effects. People complained about the telegraph. The problem with portable technology is that down-time is inevitably interrupted, puncturing natural recovery processes necessary for sustained mental health and productivity. It also gives power to those most willing to use it aggressively, akin to the tennis player discussed yesterday whose gamesmanship extends to manipulating rest breaks to unnerve their opponent.

Another remarkable impact of the portable communicator is that it can be more absorbing than a world-class tennis match. Despite repeated reminders to turn mobile phones off, any antendee to a major ticketed tournament like Wimbledon these days will have to suffer the making and receiving of calls and texts from within the exhibition courts.

Of course it may be possible that this is more a consequence of the demise of the serve-volley game, than the technology vortex the current “me-generation” inhabits.

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