Are some people taking this whole mobile madness too far? Judging from what I am seeing at The Feature, it am willing to bet that it is a distinct possibility. Much like a gaming addiction, the problem of not being able to part with your mobile can be a real problem if left unchecked.

Speaking from my own personal experience, I am aware just how easy it is to get ‘hooked’, but is it really that big a deal?

Mobile phones are wonderful devices. They let you connect to others in ways that was never really possible before — which is just part of the reason they’ve become so popular so quickly. As more phones add data functionality, that usefulness is growing rapidly. However, every once in a while, people need to take a step back and realize they really can live without a phone at times.

This is not a luddite-style article saying people should put down their phones. Nor is it an article worried about mobile phone addiction — which is often just a concept made up by doctors who want more (easy) business. However, the language around mobile phone usage is getting to the point where it’s suggesting that everyone absolutely must have a mobile phone to survive all the time, which risks driving the concept of mobile connected devices too far.

First, comes a study saying that youngsters “can’t live” without their mobile phones. It makes you wonder how they determined this. It seems like a question like that can be answered empirically: take the phone away and see if they live. I imagine the actual findings won’t be quite as exciting. While studies like this make headlines, do they do any real good for mobile data? They’re not showing how people are really using mobile phones to improve their lives — but just suggesting it’s become so critical that people absolutely must have it.