The iPocolypse, the Downfall of Society

It appears that people will give up just about anything to hold on to their iPhones or bring iPads to work, according to recent surveys. The biggest losers? Sex, booze and coffee.

A whopping 71 percent of more than 500 workers said they would give up a workplace benefit if in exchange they were allowed to use their own device, such as an iPad, says a Sybase-SAP survey. Free coffee would be the biggest casualty, followed by free food and office supplies.

Some people were even willing to give up free parking –- $15 a day in San Francisco –- or a vacation day. Really? I covet every single vacation day given to me, as well as holidays and half-days. A tech gadget can never replace them.

More than half of respondents in a TeleNav study indicated they were willing to forego caffeine rather than give up their phone. Clearly showing how serious the addiction to mobile devices is. Do you exhibit signs of an iPhone addict?

Seventy percent said they would give up alcohol to keep their phone. The Apple engineer who lost a prototype iPhone 4 at a Silicon Valley bar last year probably wishes he’d made that deal. That trip to the pub set off a chain of unhappy events, the iPhone was stolen and sold to Gizmodo, which led to cops busting down the door of an editor and seizing his computer –- a seedy tale straight out of a Sam Spade novel.

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the TeleNav study: One in three said they were willing to give up sex for a week but not their gadget. I will only note here that the statistic did specify that most of the “say no to sex crowd” were women, draw your own conclusions.

The study went on to ask, would you rather endure a week without seeing your significant other or a week without checking apps? No brainer, right? Sorry significant other, twenty-two percent would pick smartphone apps over you.

But the iPhone isn’t the harbinger of doom and gloom for our society, at least not on the exercise front. True, the TeleNav study found that more than half of respondents were willing to go a week without exercise. Nevertheless, some great exercise apps on the App Store help people stay healthy.

The best of the bunch is Lose It, a calorie-counting app for the iPhone. One Napa Valley salesperson credits the app for helping him shed 50 pounds in six months. He also drinks coffee and is getting ready to go on his honeymoon.

Take that TeleNav!