I recently read this article on Reuters (the only news site not blocked by SurfNazi at work), which reports the results of a recent study in to internet usage in the US. The results suggest that more than one in eight U.S. adults finds it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time and about one in 11 tries to hide his or her online habit.
I must admit that the thought of being offline for a few days does seem unnatural to me, but is it because I’m addicted to the internet? Or is it that I am addicted to information, and the fastest way to obtain information is through the internet. With RSS feeds, podcasts and my trusty uber gadget the MDA Vario II, i can stay totally up to date with the latest news, get my emails on the go, as well as listen to internet radio stations from all over the world wherever I am. Does this make me an addict or is it a simple case that the internet has become a fundamental part of my operational infrastructure?
I guess that the answer depends on how important you think that the internet is to your life. My wife Jen would probably say that yes I spend too much time on it, whilst personally I’m waiting for someone to invent a wifi antenna for your brain so I can get my emails direct in to my mind just by blinking. Very Doctor Who I know, and I’d want to be sure that I had a good spamfilter installed or I would get some wierd, dark dreams…
