iAA

Hello, my name is Jason Kleinberg, and I am an iPhone addict.

It started off at Christmas where I played with it for hours, checking out all that it could do, and looking for software for it.  Then I jail-broke it and the process started all over again.  Soon this subsided as the device became more comfortable to me.  For a while, I didn’t use it too much, preferring the larger screen and a full-sized keyboard of a laptop, but then something changed.

I eventually found the apps that fit my data needs better: Twitterfon for Twitter, Google Reader, Gmail rather than Mobile Mail, Safari for Google searches instead of Google’s app. I got my bookmarks situated, and a copy/paste system along with an improved keyboard. The icon for the Weather app now shows me instant updates, and the clock is animated to show the time. My contacts, emails, and calendars are all synched to my google account. I have my games and media apps in their respective folders, video streaming with Qik, IM with Fring, a flashlight app that over-rides the brightness settings to actually illuminate a room in the dark, and my google tasks for my grocery list. I had reached data nervana.

My problem stems from the fact that I have no tollerance for idleness anymore. At the slightest lull in the conversation, I start thinking, I wonder if there are any Twitter updates, or maybe there is something new in my feed reader, and out it comes. I didn’t realize this until Heather pointed it out. She says that it happens to everyone that has one (with a few exceptions).

I’m trying to deal with this problem though. I know how frustrating it is to talk to someone that is using a blackberry where their entire world shrinks down to that little screen, and they think that they can listen to what you are saying while they are sending out that last email, but you might as well be speaking Vogon for all they catch. I’m trying to be conscious of how I use it around others.

The problem really is that the iPhone is so easy to use and responsive that it seems like it is unobtrusive–I mean I can go through a new set of tweets in seconds–but even though it is fast, it still takes time that adds up. The attractive thing is not the device but the data that the device gives me access to.  Maybe once mobile data is faster, and we have either direct neural access or even retinal projection it will be less obtrusive, but until then, it will still take time.

The first step in recovery is realizing that you have a problem. I don’t think that the problem is the need for streams of data, but in controlling that desire to check in a way that doesn’t disrupt my actual interactions with friends and family.  I need to do better in this, and I’m going to try.

Wait, did my phone just buzz? I better go check.