Are we addicted to technology?

If you're reading this blog, chances are the answer is yes. Heck, two years ago, this blog-writer had never visited a blog himself; how the tides have turned! There's no arguing the fact that technology has encroached into almost every corner of our lives: we take our cell phones, PDAs and other portable devices to the movies, to dinners, even to bed with us. The BBC recently asked some experts what they thought, and predictably, opinions were split. Nada Kakabadse, a Professor at the Northampton Business School, said that technology overloads impairs our judgment and decision-making abilities. "It's like losing your spatial judgment, so instead of walking through the door you walk into it. You're more prone to have a car accident if you drive."

But other experts claim that our technology fetish is teaching us to multitask better, thus making us more able to handle emails and text messages and phone calls and web surfing in our laps during a family dinner, and still work in some quality family time while we're doing it. (I'm a little skeptical of this argument; it sounds a lot like that age-old defense of video games: they're great for hand-eye coordination!)

We want to know what our readers think. Are gadgets like the much-hyped iPhone going to change our lives for the better, or are they taking over? (Think about: i-This and i-That; the underlying message there isn't too subtle.)