I have, on a number of occasions recently become aware that some children seem to be almost ‘addicted’ to their ‘smart-phones’. In thinking about the reasons for and consequences of this I came to a disturbing realisation. I too may have become somewhat dependent on/addicted to the same technology and needed some time to explore if this was true and if so if it was a good thing or not.

I’ve just returned from a week in Normandy with my family in our Motorhome. Before leaving I decided that I would try and spend the whole week without access to my laptop, iPhone, etc. A whole week with no access to the internet, mobile phone or e-mails.

Now, this may sound simple but I’ve not done this for the past 4 years. I always take work away and always try to keep on top of things so that any issues can be promptly dealt with. On this occasion though I had arranged for all the necessary emergency cover to be handled by others and set off on my break.

It turns out that it’s true. I was addicted to my iPhone and net-book or at least I was addicted to receiving the information from them. It’s a little like giving up coffee – you don’t realise the effect that it’s having until you take it away.

I managed to get through the entire week without (a) giving in and (b) work collapsing in my absence. There were over 200 emails to respond to on my return but to be honest most of these were non-urgent. When I got back to my office I discovered that the world had carried on without noticing my absence.

The really interesting thing that I have learned is that I found myself wanting to know if anyone was trying to contact me – how vain is that? Instead I had a week where we read, swam, sun-bathed, cycled, explored and played games. I have a worry that in looking for ‘distant’ contact through technology we can sometimes miss the things that are much closer to us.

There were times when I genuinely missed not having access to information. How could I find the cheapest place for fuel? How could I find out from Trip Adviser whether ‘le Clos Normande’ or the ‘Crabbe Verte’ was the better of the restaurants for Supper? How could I check the weather forecast? How could I find the nearest Supermarche? How could I find the recipe for Caponata? Well the answer was that I had to speak to people. To ask or, alternatively just not find out or even just wing-it! (Incidentally, we went with the Crabbe Verte as the Le Clos Normande looked a little stuffy and we were not wrong!)

My conclusion is that communication technology is a good thing. It helps a great deal but we must be vigilant to ensure that it does not take us away from the here and now. So, will I take my iPhone, net-book, iPad, Laptop and goodness knows what else away in the Summer? Well yes, I think I will but I will also be mindful of how I use it.