Monday, July 30, 2007

While on my way home from work on Friday night, doing my usual routine of texting, checking emails and hitting refresh on my browser to update Twitter - all on my PDA - I suddenly stopped and looked around me. I looked at my PDA and then I asked myself, what did I used to do before I had a mobile device?

It's not that long that I've been part of the connected generation. I was one of those people who refused to join the cell revolution and was the last person you knew to have a cell phone; the only reason that I finally did get a cell phone was because I worked for a wireless handset manufacturer/marketer. I went wireless in 2001.

So what did I do, before mobile? I realized that I was more aware of my surroundings before mobile. I people watched. I paid attention to where I was walking. I looked up and around me. I looked into people's faces. I looked into store windows.

I don't do much of that anymore. I walk and text. I stand and text. I twitter in taxi's.

Once I realized that, it dawned on me that I am a walking target for crime because of my addiction to technology. I could easily be mugged and never see my attacker. If I passed a business being robbed, I may not be able to provide any information. I'm not paying attention.

Then I wondered about the link between crime and technology. Are there statistics or studies showing a rise in crime and its direct correlation to victims using technology at the time of the attack? I know I'm not the only person out there preoccupied with my devices. Are we at danger because of our constant usage of devices?

Is this a trend for our future? What do you think?

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