In my recent rash of book reading, I finished 24 and Philosophy.  One of the essays–”How the Cell Phone Changed the World and Made 24″–details the effect that modern technology has in our harried lives.

One of the more interesting quotes from the essay was:

“We understand the necessity of schizophrenia, quadrophenia, or
whatever it takes to get you through the night. And we only understand
this because we have the necessary accessory to the splintered
life, the cell phone.

The phone that keeps us together. Keeps our illusions tabulated.
Keeps our data, our dates, our birthdays, our important memos, our
urgent must-do lists. Keeps us amused with games in between all that
seriousness.”

So, for all of the benefits that modern technology–and the cell phone–have brought us, it has also made our lives more splintered.  We are always expected to be available at all times.  We have indeed made a Faustian bargain with these little things we use every day.