No doubt about it, technology has become a necessity rather than a luxury. Critical for business, it seems work stops—period—when the computer network is down. My own business has been transformed by technology and Internet use in the past decade. An old “waxer,” a few paste-up boards, X-Acto knives, and rulers are hidden away in the storage room. A quick flip through my Rolodex file shows business cards and phone numbers at least five years out of date, replaced by the client content management system in my computer. Telephoning often serves to confirm an e-mail, rather than as an introduction.

I’ve experienced technology as a lifeline a few times, where the only communication to friends and family was through e-mail and a cell phone. Vacations and trips in recent years include a daily fix of connectivity to family. It’s especially significant on trips abroad, where the time zones make telephone communication difficult. I’m surprised at how important e-mail messages from friends and family are in helping me survive a few homesick moments when I’m traveling out of the country.

When my daughter left for college a couple years ago, technology helped her keep in touch. She went to Washington, D.C., for six weeks this summer, toting her laptop, digital camera, camera cell phone, and iPod. However, a lost camera cord, dead batteries, and broken laptop each became a crisis, as all were critical components for entertainment and connections to friends and family, all spread out around the world on vacations and internships.

I’ve been trying to remember how I stayed in touch with my son just eight years earlier when he left for the same experience. Payphones with long-distance calling cards? A portable tape player? For this self-proclaimed-and-proud-of-it overprotective mom, the comfort of a text message or a quick cell call to say, “I’ve arrived safely to my destination” is worth the monthly cost. I remember presenting my daughter with a cell phone in high school, saying, “This is for my sanity—you must respond when I call, so I don’t have to worry.” I suppose now that all my children are adults, a GPS chip in their phones is out of the question. And while a webcam hasn’t yet been purchased, if we didn’t live so close to one another I’d probably join the techno-savvy group of grandparents who get to watch their grandchildren’s first milestones.

A recent New York Times article explained how the military is now providing soldiers with laptops and Internet hookups in their barracks to help ease the isolation of military families. “Since the 1990s military and private organizations like the Freedom Calls Foundation have spent millions of dollars to wire camps in Iraqi war zones,” noted the article. The downside to this instant communication is, of course, potential distraction and not being able to fully focus on the immediate purpose—particularly hazardous in a war zone.

Information overload, incessant multitasking, and communication addiction can prevent us from enjoying the moment ourselves and from allowing others their independence. The immediacy of technology doesn’t encourage us to think before we speak, not drink and dial, sleep on it, figure it out ourselves, or follow other sage words of wisdom. It’s been very easy to slip into technology dependence.

One person’s lifeline can be another’s leash—perhaps it should still be considered a luxury.  TPW