OtherThanThat

It was one of those moments.
Two business women stood at the opening cocktail reception before an important conference. The room was filled with major players – CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, top media, pundits. As the women talked, one of them glanced incessantly at her Blackberry, uttering an occasional “uh huh” in response to her colleague – all the while tapping furiously on the keyboard.
In a moment of frustration, the non-texting woman grabbed the Blackberry. Holding it aloft, much as a kid on a playground might do with a toy to tease another, she said: “Let’s see how long you can last without it.”
Forgetting her Tajari suit and 3 inch heels, the digitally desperate woman hopped and jumped, trying to retrieve her talisman. Enjoying the moment, the thief backed up and the chase began.
Sounds slapstick. But that woman in the Tajari suit was me.

And it took place two years ago at the D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad.
The look on Bill Gates’ face as I dashed by was pretty funny, but frankly I was more consumed with snaring my Blackberry back from the clutches of Chris Shipley.
While the moment may have been humorous, the truth is that I’m not alone in this desperate connection to the digital deities.
Yes, it seems that there’s yet another report stating – and I’ll paraphrase here – that overly enthusiastic text messaging is a sign of mental disorder.
I have one thing to say about that.
But you can read about it on my Twitter feed.