Frank Quattrone (1956) is a former investment banker at Credit Suisse First Boston who has been convicted of interfering with a government probe into Credit Suisse First Boston's behavior in allocating hot IPOs. The conviction was later overturned...

Crackberry: You Really Might Be Addicted

blackberry1.jpgWe were eating lunch at San Pietro the other day when we noticed at least a half our table was glancing down at their Blackberries. This really is getting out of control, we thought. Today scientists are claiming that the devices really are addicting some users, and that addicts may need treatment to recover.

The study, carried out by New Jersey's Rutgers University School, claims the Blackberry is fuelling a rise in email and internet addiction, with sufferers able to survive only a few minutes without checking for new mail.

One key sign of a user being addicted is if they focus on their Blackberry ignoring those around them.

One question: how long until the first Blackberry addiction lawsuit? We can see it now--repetitive stress injuries stemming from constant Blackberry use.

Posted by John Carney on August 22, 2006 12:15 PM |

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Comments

"Addicting" is not even a word.

Posted by: lauren | August 22, 2006 01:57 PM

Absurd. It's the present particple of the verb "addict."

http://www.bartleby.com/61/6/A0080600.html

Posted by: John Carney | August 22, 2006 02:28 PM

http://www.stanford.edu/~grantp/grammar.html

to save you time:
Addicting

...is not an adjective! You can only say "The cocaine is addicting me." You cannot say "Cocaine is addicting." Cocaine is addicting what? AddictIVE is an adjective. "Cocaine is addictive."

Posted by: lauren | August 22, 2006 05:25 PM

i misspoke. it is a word, but misused.

Addicting

...is not an adjective! You can only say "The cocaine is addicting me." You cannot say "Cocaine is addicting." Cocaine is addicting what? AddictIVE is an adjective. "Cocaine is addictive."

source: http://www.stanford.edu/~grantp/grammar.html

Posted by: lauren | August 22, 2006 05:26 PM

You write "treatment to recover", I read "shove that Blackberry through that soft bit on the side of the forehead until it comfortably rests in the frontal lobe, kind of like an 8-track tape in a Trans-Am".

Posted by: L'Emmerdeur | August 22, 2006 05:39 PM

And WTF is "Rutgers University School"? There is no such proper noun. I believe you trimmed off "...of Business at Camden" from the end. (Sorry to pile on, man, but you need to get your New Jersey citations right lest ye face my wrath.)

Posted by: Sterling | August 22, 2006 09:51 PM

Sterling,

I didn't trim it. It's a direct quote from the article. Maybe they screwed it up. But thanks for the clarification. I wouldn't dare challenge your knowledge of Borough 6.

Posted by: John Carney | August 23, 2006 02:17 PM