Blackberrys: Addicting, Erstwhile Lobbyists

As a very recent recipient of the BlackBerry Curve, I can attest to oft-stated side-effects of being addicted to it--and somehow in the name of taking me off the computer, an activity at which too much of my time is flitted away in the first place.

Then I see this article, in which members of congress, including 84-year-old Congressman Ted Stevens, are seen as walking government liabilities; and in Stevens' case, literally walking around the halls of congress, with his Blackberry set to jumbo print, oblivious to any and all foot traffic around him.

But the headline--one which betrays the underlying, addictive properties that ushered the satirical term "CrackBerry," did not point to the little paragraph I find far more fascinating than its anachronistic use by Octogenarian lawmakers:

People who mull such things are beginning to ask whether Capitol Hill’s BlackBerry addiction — seven out of 10 members and staffers have one — is putting too much power into the hands of small groups of well-connected constituents, exacerbating partisan polarization and snuffing out whatever’s left of Washington’s political
sanctuary removed from the parochial concerns back home.

Which makes me wonder: did technology just swing an access pendulum the other way, or am I just off here?

Maybe Mr. Smith needs to text Washington this election cycle.

-R