Instant Messaging has taken over our house. Okay, so maybe not the house … but at least one of the computers. My twelve-year-old daughter, like so many kids, has become addicted to AOL Instant Messenger. The problem is, we’re a bit short on Internet-connected computers at the moment. So the kid’s instant messaging addiction has caused a bit of a computer squeeze.

Motorola wants to ride to our rescue. Their IMfree Wireless Instant Messenger promises to “free up the family computer without putting a stop to the fun of instant messaging.” Motorola boasts that the “portable, convenient IMfree device goes where your kids want to go � from their bedroom to the backyard � without wires or additional monthly fees.” Well, that all sounds great, I guess …

An IMfree handhold would free up a computer. (And it would surely cost a whole lot less than buying a brand new computer.) But I’m not sure that it’s something that would be a positive development, overall. I don’t know if I want my kids to be able to chat with half a dozen buddies at a time, at an advertised distance of up to 150 feet from the base station. Quite honestly, I don’t want my pre-teens to retreat to their rooms with an Internet device. We’d never see them. And we’d never know who they’re talking to …

Internet messaging addiction–be it real or imagined–is something to be reckoned with. At least here at ranchero indebto. It’s pretty cool that the kids get to stay in contact with their pals over the summer, whether they’re across down or across the country. But I worry that they’re spending way too much time online.

Motorola says that their new technology allows for up to seven IMfree Wireless Instant Messenger devices to be used with each wireless base station. That’s both cool and insane. Imagine a family with half a dozen of these little wireless devices … each in the hands of a teenager (or pre-teen). Think of all that thumb-typing! Think of all the reclusive behavior!

Of course, if Motorola wants to send us an IMfree Wireless Instant Messenger to evaluate, we’d be obliged to take it for a spin … ;)