Originally as most people's servant, the smart phone has become the master, the Economist reported.

Right now everybody is on call all the time. Work invades the home far more than domestic chores invade the office. Otherwise-sane people check their smart phones obsessively, even during pre-dinner drinks, and send e-mails first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

Hyper connectivity exaggerates some of the most destabilizing trends in the modern workplace: the decline of certainty, the rise of global supply chains and the general cult of flexibility. Smart phones make it easier for managers to change their minds at the last moment.

One solution to the addiction is digital dieting. Banning browsing before breakfast can reintroduce a modicum of civilization. Banning texting at weekends or, say, on Thursdays, can really show the iPhone who is boss.

But ultimately it is up to companies to outsmart the smart phone by insisting that everyone turn them off from time to time.

(China.org.cn April 7, 2012)

據英國《經濟學人》報道，智能手機本應是用戶的奴仆，而眼下它卻搖身一變，奴役起了用戶。

如今，電話不離身，所有人都隨時待命。偶有家庭瑣事帶到辦公室，但遠不及工作滲入家庭的侵擾。原本心智健全的人變得魂不守舍，不停查看手機，連喝餐前酒的功夫都不放過。晨起第一件事和睡前最后一件事，都是發電子郵件。

人與人之間的過度連接使現代職場的不安定趨勢愈演愈烈：一切充滿不確定性，全球供應鏈興起，人們普遍推崇靈活變通。有了智能手機，管理者們更容易在最后一秒改變主意了。

解決手機上癮的一種可行方案是實行“數字節食”。早餐之前不看信息讓我們重拾教養；周末或周四不發短信能讓iPhone明白，誰才是真正的主人。

但歸根結底，要想戰勝智能手機，還得靠公司時時要求員工關掉它們。