September 18, 2000

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The Wilder Side:
Learn To Work The 'Off' Switch

The Internet is on 24 hours a day, but that doesn't mean we have to be

By Clinton Wilder

n a 1995 InformationWeek book review of Clifford Stoll's Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway, I took Stoll to task for belaboring the obvious. Stoll contended that the Internet and cyberspace activities such as E-mail were overhyped, hollow, and, above all, no substitute for life in the real world. I panned the book because I thought that was something we really didn't need to be told.

Now, five years later, I'm not so sure. Stoll wrote Silicon Snake Oil even before Netscape's initial public offering skyrocket in August 1995 touched off the dot-com gold rush, and he turned out to be more prophetic than I realized. There's a new need to keep things in perspective, and it's not just about Web surfing per se. It's about the whole cyberculture of work--wired and 24-by-7. Because we're just at the very beginning of The Next Big Thing that's going to kick that cyberculture into a whole new gear: wireless technology, or what we call pervasive computing in this magazine.

Perhaps my perspective is skewed by living in the San Francisco Bay area. This is a place where more than 25,000 folks drive seven hours to spend Labor Day weekend in the harsh and desolate Black Rock Desert in Nevada, in part to get away from E-mail and cellular phones. That's the site of the annual Burning Man Festival, a celebration of creative expression, free-form recreation, and dust storms. There are many understandable attractions about the event, but what strikes me is how many attendees say they just need to "unplug." (Although one young high-tech public relations employee told USA Today she considered the event to be "professional development," which strikes me as a bit of a stretch.)

Such oddities as Burning Man notwithstanding, the Bay area has been the harbinger of many cybertrends for the rest of the country, and wireless is undoubtedly next. If you think there's controversy now about drivers using cell phones on the highway, just wait until they're checking headlines via AvantGo on their Palm Pilots, or E-mail on their wireless BlackBerry devices. I give it about a year. Better double-check your collision insurance.

Don't get me wrong: I believe that the Internet is a very positive force--not just for business, but for society, international relations, you name it. One of a thousand reasons why is the ability to access information and purchase products anytime, unfettered by store hours, newspaper delivery schedules, or TV timetables. It's great that the Net is on 24 hours a day--but that doesn't mean we should have to be.

A lot of people who agree are anything but Luddites. "E-mail is a blessing and a curse," says Wine.com co-founder and senior VP Peter Granoff, who's been running the online wine-seller since 1995. "It has brought an unconscious expectation that we can all do 10 times as many things as we used to. It's like this entire industry is in perpetual startup mode."

The irony of Granoff's life is that he left the restaurant business because the pace and hours were too relentless. "The Internet business is worse," he says without a moment's hesitation. "I used to work six nights a week. Now I work eight days a week."

The over-the-top workload and pace of life at E-commerce startups isn't news, of course. But aspects of that culture are quickly spreading to the wired workforce throughout all industries, and the wireless revolution will accelerate that spread. Ubiquitous cell-phone use is bad enough, but at least that faces some limits of service coverage and--admittedly less and less--civility. But can't you just see people downloading wireless E-mail at a concert or a play? Hey, it's silent, so I'm not bothering anybody, right?

Wrong. You're bothering anyone who believes in keeping life in balance and work in perspective. And here's the kicker: Workers and their companies are going to be more productive, and better off in the long run, if they take the time to step back, unplug, and do something else for a while. Companies need to make stepping back and maintaining balance important parts of their culture.

For businesses and individuals, technology speeds the flow of information and communication that is our lifeblood. Every online innovation and wireless development quickens that pulse. They have become so vital that there's only one thing more important: the ability to shut them off.

Clinton Wilder is InformationWeek's editor at large, covering E-business. You can reach him at cwilder@cmp.com.

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