August 19th, 2004
Newsweek Luddite decries use of cell phones
Columnist Robert Samuelson’s anti-progress rant in the upcoming issue of Newsweek is focused on how cell phones have made us too connected. Therefore, he’ll continue to resist cell phones, just as I’ve resisted ATM cards and digital cameras.
Cell phones—and, indeed, all wireless devices—constitute another chapter in the ongoing breakdown between work and everything else. They pretend to increase your freedom while actually stealing it. People are supposed to be always capable of participating in the next meeting, responding to their e-mails or retrieving factoids from the Internet. People so devoted to staying interconnected are kept in a perpetual state of anxiety, because they may have missed some significant memo, rendezvous, bit of news or gossip. They may be more plugged in and less thoughtful.
No word as to how Samuelson filed this story to Newsweek–repeated attempts at contacting him via smoke signals failed.
