Téléphone intelligent et dépendance!

"Don't sleep with your smart phone nearby". Il s'agit du premier conseil de Bob Greene pour "couper" la relation trouble que certains entretiennent avec tous les gadgets qui se sont glissés dans vos vies et qui, dans les cas les plus "graves", provoquent une dépendance.

Comment déterminer que ces onéreux petits jouets accaparent trop notre attention?

"And, more to the point: How many of us have the nagging feeling that we are somehow unable to disconnect -- that the electronic devices we own have begun to own us?
There is an instinct to treat the subject whimsically: "Land o'Goshen, Ma, those kids are walking down the street staring at their cellphone screens." It's as if any criticism of what the digital age has done to society brands the person raising the questions as backward, afraid of change, irrationally wedded to outmoded ways.
So the addiction question is often one that people silently ask themselves. Shouldn't we be spending less time checking and rechecking our many screens, large and small, and more time taking part in what used to be regarded as real life? Is there something inherently wrong when people being separated from their phones, computers and tablets makes them feel nervous, irritable, tense -- in other words, when they begin to exhibit classic withdrawal symptoms?
For guidance on this, I got in touch with Sieberg, who has given as much thought to the subject as anyone of whom I'm aware. A former CNN correspondent, he is a lecturer, writer and broadcaster on technology issues who, in his own life, became increasingly conscious of the unhealthy hold that digital devices can have. He wrote a book called "The Digital Diet" that argues persuasively that there can come a time in a person's life when he or she is a good candidate for technology detox.
I asked him if "addiction" is too strong a word to use in relation to devices that seem to hook their users emotionally, but not chemically.
"Unfortunately, the word 'addiction' has become overused," he said, and should not be trivialized. Addictions to illegal drugs, alcohol and prescription medication are grimly somber matters. But, he said, the idea of an addiction to digital devices is genuine, and is not something that should be greeted with a sardonic wink.
"One definition of 'addiction' is when other people and other activities in your life begin to suffer because of something you know you should cut back on, but don't," he said.
Some of his examples are things that many people will instantly recognize:
-- The urge to pull out a cellphone even when someone you're with in person is in the midst of a conversation with you.
-- Texting even while your child is telling you about his or her day at school, and realizing later that you can't remember the details of what your son or daughter has said to you.
-- Having the vague feeling that something hasn't really happened until you post it to Facebook or Twitter.
-- Feeling isolated and anxious if you are offline for an extended period of time.
-- Noticing that even when your family is all together in one room at home, each person is gazing at his or her own screen and tapping at a miniature keyboard."

La suite:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/30/opinion/greene-smart-phone-addiction/index.html