The Tragic Death of Technology-Free Time

Monday, August 23rd, 2010 Karen Ambrose Hickey, Editor

After reading Harry McCracken’s Technologizer article “The Tragic Death of Practically Everything” and mulling over the data in today’s Mobile Workforce Report, I was inspired by the thought that we may be witnessing the death of technology-free time, or seeing it, at least, on life support. We’ve seen the headlines in the New York Times, “Attached to Technology and Paying a Price” this past June, and USA Today “Always on Technology: Are We Adapting or
Losing?” from August.

In our latest iPass Mobile Workforce Report, we found that the death of technology-free time is indeed the case. The majority of mobile employees never disconnect from technology, even during vacation. For the 46.4 percent of mobile employees that do, on occasion, disconnect, their reasons were mostly situational (e.g., in a location with poor connectivity).

“I try to disconnect, but I can never do it completely unless I’ve forgotten my electronics, which has only ever happened once,” analyst, research institute (Canada)

“Dec 2008, Hawaii cruise, personal choice and limited or no internet access,” vice president, customer experience, accounting firm (US)

Even while on vacation, a mere 5.9 percent of employees completely disconnected, and 36.3 percent said that they were always connected. The majority of mobile employees who connected while on vacation did so for work.

The death of technology-free time has led to the birth of an on-demand workforce. The mobile device has now become a tether that ensures mobile employees are always at the ready to handle work or personal business. For enterprises, an on-demand workforce delivers huge benefits to the enterprise in the area of increased workforce productivity, as well as, in customer service, crisis management and day-to-day operations. It also allows employees to stay connected with their personal and professional communities.

In fact, this quarter’s survey revealed that:

• 5.5 percent of employees use their mobile phone/smartphones exclusively for work and only 3 percent use them only for personal communications
• More than 90 percent of employees use their smartphone for both work and personal business
• 97 percent of mobile employees carry two or more mobile devices, and almost 50 percent carried three or more.
• Most smartphone users choose Wi-Fi to connect, but 31.8 percent say it’s because Wi-Fi is faster than 3G, rather than the cheaper alternative.
• Who pays the bills? In most cases, the company is paying some or all of the bill.

For more statistics and insight, download our Q3 Mobile Workforce Report.

Also, be sure to watch our “roving reporter” on her video highlight reel.

Tags: enterprise mobility, mobile device, mobile employee, mobile workforce, survey