Is Email Apnea Real? And, is the iPad the Cure?

I had the opportunity to listen to Linda Stone speak about the concept of "continuous partial attention" at an O'Reilly Emerging Technology conference years ago. The concept and her discussion surrounding it was fascinating (and oh so true). So, when I heard her name mentioned on a recent This Week in Tech podcast (TWIT 254), I gave the podcast more than "partial attention". TWIT host Leo LaPorte commented on another fascinating observation by Linda Stone. It was so interesting that I went and found a reference to it: Diagnosis: Email Apnea? (O'Reilly Radar. Feb. 12, 2008) Linda noted her observation that people tend to breath shallowly or even hold their breath when responding to email. This kind of deviation from normal breathing patterns is not a good thing as you might guess. It somewhat resembles the serious condition known as Sleep Apena where people stop breathing several time during sleep. In a recent (June 28) blog item, titled: iPads Everywhere! (LindaStone.net. June 28) Linda notes annecdotally: People appear to sit comfortably, posture and breathing less stressed while using the iPad. Some have specifically commented to me that while they notice they have email apnea when using their laptops, they breathe easily when using their iPad. In all seriousness, does the iPad's different orientation when used change something like body position to reduce email apnea behavior? It would be interesting to see more research in this area given how many of us spend a large part of our day responding to email. In the meantime, remember to breathe!

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Is Email Apnea Real? And, is the iPad the Cure?

Todd Ogasawara

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Todd Ogasawara