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COPYRIGHT 2007 Alert Publications, Inc.
It was July 1, 2007, only a couple of days after "iDay," June 29th, the day the iPhone was released. That night, as I was walking my dogs, I found myself daydreaming about something I never thought I'd dream about. As I walked onto the University of Nebraska campus, it occurred to me that if only I had an iPhone, I could be surfing the Web checking on the status of the All Star Home Run Derby or the Tour de France. I could be reading email that had come in since the workday ended a few hours earlier. I felt a little tug of disappointment and sadness, not to mention a pang of frustration that I didn't have the tool that I would enable me to be connected on my walk.
Silly. To think that I was somehow missing an opportunity and I could have been "working," or using the Internet during a time that is, though technically a chore, actually is a terrifically enjoyable and relaxing leisure activity: going for a walk with my dogs. No, it was more than that, I felt that I should be checking my email or at least, surfing the Web. Somehow the hype had gotten to me. I felt that I was failing to "stay connected" and take advantage of what technology has to offer. What a waste of time, to be simply and quietly walking along enjoying a warm summer's evening.
How had this feeling crept into my otherwise carefree and mellow mind? Certainly marketing is at work, and I have fallen for it. Yet, I believe that there is more than that going on and by examining it, we may be able to learn something valuable about human nature and a little something about how to predict the technological...
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