Obama's BlackBerry Addiction Explained

Salon.com has a Q&A with Dalton Conley, chair of the sociology department at New York University and author of the new book, "Elsewhere U.S.A.," which, Salon.com explains, "describes not only the rise of the familiar texting, instant messaging, e-mailing culture that has transformed the old 9-to-5 into the 24/7, but the underlying cultural and economic factors driving even high-paid workers to feel like they should be working more hours."

Conley has this theory about Obama and his need for a Blackberry:

Salon: What do you think it represents that our new president, Barack Obama, refuses to give up his BlackBerry?

Conley: The BlackBerry for Obama is just the tip of the iceberg for him. We had the man in the gray flannel suit who quit work at 5 p.m. in our last president. Obama reflects more accurately how professionals of his generation are living, both in keeping the BlackBerry, and because he works at home, which happens to be the oldest home office in the United States, the White House.

The Obamas are going to be an interesting first couple with a career woman in the White House, as opposed to Laura Bush, who was again a throwback to the 1950s, when only 17 percent of moms worked outside the home. And they have an interesting solution as well, which is to import Michelle's mom to have an extra adult to manage the kids. So we're going to identify with Obama in a way that we couldn't with Bush.