FEATUREThink before you link: controlling ubiquitous availability

order. " The kinds of issues that might preoccupy people at the highest level are: which computer to buy, whether to go on holiday, or whether to purchase an iPhone. Communication, according to Maslow's model, becomes a need to be satisfied only when physiological and safety and security needs have been satisfied. However, experience tells us that people have the need to communicate even when their lower-order needs are not satisfied, as evidenced by the behavior of people in concentration camps. It is also well known that solitary confinement is the most dreaded form of discipline in prison. We argue that despite interaction being such a basic need, the glut of communication media has overloaded us to such an extent that the biggest luxury of all is to choose not to interact with others. The explosion in communication in the past few years has been facilitated by a number of innovations such as affordable mobile phones, social networking sites, email, and BlackBerries. Based on our observations of The survival of the species depends upon communication between its members. The mechanisms underlying human communication have long been scrutinized , from Darwin's examination of the role of emotion, to later studies related to the ways in which people form attachments. Of particular interest are studies about how individuals and groups communicate. Whole journals are dedicated to human communication and communication disorders. Although survival is dependent upon communication, as a species, we need to do more than simply survive. Maslow attempted to enhance understanding of this with his proposal of a number of " human needs, " which start off with the most basic, physiological needs and progress to self-actualization at the apex of the pyramid. Only once a person feels that Maslow's lower-level needs have been satisfied can they enjoy an " enhanced survival status, " in which those aspects of daily existence that preoccupy them are of a " higher emailers, we forecast a gradual withdrawal from electronic communication based on the fact that people obviously are unable to be sensible about their email interactions. For example, continually thinking about and monitoring email, just in case something interesting has arrived, is not productive. This is exacerbated by the multitude of other information we have to deal with on a daily basis as part of our working day. Several studies have foreshad-owed this. Nonnecke and Preece found that the very great majority …