Posted on: Monday, September 6, 2004

Staying connected to office not without its drawbacks

By David Lyman
Knight Ridder News Service

Wi-Fi, Blackberry, cell phones — they're all intended to liberate us from the office. No need to be trapped behind the desk, techie visionaries tell us. With these things you can hit the road and work wherever you please. The beach, the back nine, the corner bar — they can all be your office now.

But there's a flaw in this connective utopia.

These are two-way gadgets.

If you can reach the office, the office can reach you. And so can anyone else who has your phone number or e-mail address. As a result, many 40-hour workweeks have become 24/7 grinds.

According to June 3 figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, business-sector productivity was up 4.6 percent (seasonally adjusted) in the first three months of 2004.

Bottom line is that people are working harder, working longer and working more efficiently. And being constantly accessible is part of the deal.

Dave Clark of Howell, Mich., is a poster child for productivity. He has a wireless laptop, instant messaging, wireless headset, cell phone and his current favorite, the Blackberry, a wireless e-mail device.

He's also got a wife who's less than enthralled with his electronic paraphernalia.

"I just don't have enough mouths and ears to carry on all the conversations I want to," said Clark, 33, senior vice president of marketing for the Midwest region of Clear Channel Entertainment, which produces the vast majority of the area's major pop concerts.

"My life seems to revolve around work more than it does around life away from work," said Clark, "and tools like the Blackberry make it easier for that to happen." The Blackberry is small, has a tiny keyboard and can double as a cell phone. Prices start at $100.

Workers who love their digital gizmos tend to fall into one of three categories:

Those who get an ego boost from them: When the boss calls late at night, it affirms their importance.

Those for whom staying connected is a matter of control: They chafe at sitting in the office, but they want to be consulted about everything that goes on there.

And then there are those who just plain don't stop working:

That's Clark.

His wife, Amy, 37, a teacher at Holt High School, recalls the time she was napping in the car while her husband drove.

"When I woke up, he said something about getting an e-mail. Finally, he confessed he'd been sending and receiving e-mails on the Blackberry while he drove!"

Scary. There's a reason that a nickname for the Blackberry is Crackberry.

No wonder we have such a love-hate relationship with these electronic umbilical cords. They've freed us from the cubicle and the landline phone, but they have also rendered even the most idyllic setting a potential workplace.

The Lemelson-MIT Invention Index, released in January, found that 30 percent of American adults say cell phones are the invention they hate most, but can't live without.

That's why it's important to set some limits.

In Dave Clark's case, that means he has agreed that the dinner table and bedside table will be Blackberry-free zones.

And as for those times that the gizmos do intrude?

"I try to justify it to my wife, that it's all about our future," said Clark. Amy Clark smirks at her husband's rationale.

"That's a good one," she said. "I suppose there might be some loose connection. But let's put it this way. When I have to grade papers on a Sunday, I don't tell him that I'm building our future."

Ouch.

Perhaps Clark can be forgiven a little. He has spent his entire working life wreathed in technology.

He has had e-mail and a cell phone since he was 21. But many older Americans still remember busy signals and carbon copies. If you weren't at your desk, you didn't get the call.

For them, sorting through the electronic mayhem is more complicated.

And truth be told, it's getting difficult even for diehards like Dave Clark.

"I don't know how long that sort of pace can last for myself," said Clark. "I've seen advancements in my career, but I know that there has to be a breaking point. You know, when do you actually arrive at that future you've worked so hard for?"