I was looking through my list of topics to blog about this morning and came across an experience from vacation.
My husband and I went scuba diving in Indonesia and spent 10 days on a liveaboard dive boat traveling from Bali to Flores and all through the Komodo National Park (home of the Komodo Dragon).
Guests and crew were all equipped with lots of electronic gear: cell phones, blackberries, digital cameras.
Just guess what one of the major concerns of nearly everyone was?
WHERE CAN WE GET A SIGNAL FOR CELL PHONE SERVICE AND INTERNET ACCESS?
OK — I confess I thought about it too… I hauled my camera, phone and laptop halfway around the world — to edit photos (or so I told myself…)…But this was kinda scary…
Now here we all were, enjoying some of the world’s most pristine underwater and topside scenery. We’re talking giant manta rays, pygmy seahorse, “dragons”, wild deer & boar, active volcanoes… I mean, as one guy put it, we were at the “arse end of Indonesia”…. AND the boat was equipped with a satellite phone for emergencies.
We even stopped a number of times for land excursions, hiking up the steep ridges of the volcanic islands to see the view…NOT…so everyone could see if they could get a signal.
One woman slipped and fell on one of the hikes and smashed her Crackberry …I mean Blackberry, but no worries, she had a back up cell phone!
Sounds like we’re all addicted…what do you think???
So, of course, I went off to the Internet for some research and found Dr. Kimberly Young at www.netaddiction.com.
Some factoids to consider:
“One of the later large-scale studies conducted on Internet addictions was completed in 2006 by Stanford University’s School of Medicine, which interviewed 2,513 adults in a nationwide telephone survey.
Researchers said 68.9 percent of respondents were regular Internet users, and one in eight displayed at least one possible sign of problematic Internet use.
The team, moreover, said:
That 13.7 percent found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time.
That 12.3 percent had seen a need to cut back on Internet use at some point.
That 8.7 percent attempted to conceal nonessential Internet use from family, friends and employers.
That 5.9 percent thought their relationships suffered as a result of excessive Internet use.
Elias Aboujaoude, the study’s lead author, said he was particularly concerned by the number of people who hid their nonessential Internet use.
‘Obviously something is wrong when people go out of their way to hide their Internet activity,” he said in a news release. “We often focus on how wonderful the Internet is — how simple and efficient it can make things. But we need to consider the fact that it creates real problems for a subset of people.’
Internet usage in general has clearly increased over the past decade, with 68.7 percent of homes boasting Internet access in 2009, compared with 41.5 percent in 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau”.
I know I love the Internet and will continue to be a “user”, but will think more about maintaining a balance with other activities.
Would love to know what everyone thinks about this issue.
~Beth Cregan
Indonesian Sunset
Komodo Dragon
