Today T-Mobile and Google launched a new mobile phone that promises to integrate with one’s personal email in the same way that a BlackBerry integrates with one’s work email. I wonder if having one’s personal email easily at hand will lead to addictive behaviours like those I found in a study related to BlackBerry addiction that I did with David Vance of Rutgers earlier this year.
In that study, we found that a third of BlackBerry users show signs of addiction similar to alcoholics. Having these devices can create productive time out of travel and waiting time, but the BlackBerry also makes people work longer, increases stress and interrupts personal time.
Now, easily accessible personal email on mobile phones, like on the new T-Mobile G1 or Apple’s iPhone, could also be a distraction, but it’s more likely that people will [...]