How much information do we really need to consume? Do we really need to be up-to-date with what our friends are doing at every moment of the day? Do we need to attend to that email right away? Is the super, instant-connected wireless life in which we are deluged with so much information really adding that much value to our life or do we only think so?

In the beginning, we had email. Enter: Instant Messaging, RSS, followed by Facebook, Twitter, Afrigator and the like. Let’s not forget that for most people, there is still TV and radio alongside other traditional media pumping information our way.

Never mind too that lots of the information that we receive via all these channels are duplicated: you get it in your mailbox, get another version by RSS, run into several tweets repeating the same, etc, etc.

Now with the integration of these into mobile technology, it really becomes addictive. Your tweets and those of your friends follow you around. Same goes for email, Facebook, RSS feeds and all the others. All of them constantly begging for your attention – a beep here; a message notification there.

What got us thinking along these lines is that one of our team members did an audit of his life last year and felt that being so super-connected had become more of a hindrance than a help to him. So last year, he pulled the plug on many of these channels. He swears that he’s now much more productive and that he has put on some extra weight since then.

We see the results of his decision here at the office and agree about the effects it has had on him (notice the italics). We are happy for him. But can it be true that we all do not necesarilly need to be so dug deep in the super-connected life?

Do we really need to be this connected? Do we really need all that information or are we just suckers for the next technology buzz? Are we heading for an information overload? You tell us what you think.

Here at Mobility Nigeria, we predicted sometime back – and have stood our ground – that mobility is the future of personal computing.

With last week’s announcement by Nokia of the Booklet 3G (Nokia’s own take on mini Laptops), we just might be inching closer and closer to true mobility in the PC world. The Booklet 3G is essentially a netbook – a mini laptop, but a little bit more.

One of the things that the Nokia Booklet 3G brings to the PC world was included in Wikipedia’s list of the seven things that a mobile can do that a PC cannot do – the ability to stay connected all the time. See our article on that, The Modern Mobile Phone is Inherently Superior in Capability than a Laptop or Desktop PC.

The new device from Nokia will have always-on connectivity, thanks to a built-in 3G/HSDPA modem and a SIM card slot. With this inclusion, Wikipedia’s list has been reduced to six and the PC has taken one more step towards becoming truly mobile.

Battery life does not make it to Wikipedia’s list, but I think that one of the advantages that a mobile has over the laptop is the fact that its battery life lasts much longer than that of a laptop – many times going for more than 24 hours before running out. This, my humble opinion, is part of what true mobility entails. The Nokia Booklet 3G, while still not offering battery life that is at par with mobile phones boasts an impressive 12hrs of battery life. More and more, battery life is increasing on laptops, thus making them all the more truly mobile.

As we become more and more mobile, one wonders, “Will the mobile phone replace the laptop PCs or will the PCs become 100% mobile to the point where mobile phones are no longer needed?”

My thinking is that both will compliment each other to give a truly mobile experience.