[Intrepid Homoludens]

Sorry, I couldn't find that news article. However there are many out there reporting similar things (a quick Google search will show), it's a collective psychological phenomenon.

I don't see why today you can't choose to slow certain details in your life down to a 19th (or even 20th) century pace. It can be as easy as turning your phone off or leaving it at home altogether. But most importantly it's a matter of communicating to everyone in your life that you will not be available 24/7 unless it's an extreme emergency.

This is what I was worried about before I finally got my first cell phone a few years ago (several years after everyone I know got one), that I would lose a great chunk of my private life. The very idea of a cell phone, a Blackberry, high speed internet, or wi-fi hotspot at your favourite cafe suggests the sacrifice of a decided final boundary of personal space and time. In effect, and in practice, you're telling the world that it can intrude on you anytime it wants to. And you actually want it to.

There are certain obligations or expectations whenever you receive a call, text message, or email, to reply to it immediately, and you may feel awkward or a bit guilty if you don't, as if you let the sender down.

Connection to the internet brings similar feelings, I think. It's readily available and it's all immediate for the high speed. In other words, instant gratification. And it turns us into consumers of information and communication, just as credit cards turn us into consumers of products and status. That gratification can be like a drug, feeding us little jolts of happiness whenever we want. And if we don't get it we have little withdrawal symptoms.