Switching off

I've finally given in to peer pressure and bought myself an iPad. Hardly an 'early adaptor' it has taken me some time to be persuaded of the benefits. How lucky am I, now that I can pick up emails in every room of my house, not only on my trustee Blackberry but also on the iPad, as well as on the PC in my office. Let alone from anyone else's office I may be working in and any old place in between. Admittedly the pleasure of tuning in to BBC iPlayer from the comfort of my kitchen table is turning out to be a real boon. But just as I'm getting used to browsing the net wherever I may be, I'm reading how experts are predicting that 36% of babies are already addicted to iPads. According to this Halifax Insurance survey, on average each household owns nearly £1,000 worth of electrical devices. And parents are being warned by the Government's Children's Commissioner not to allow gadgets at the dinner table and to limit themselves to two television sets per household. So just as I'm gearing up for more of the stuff, the rest of the UK is being told to slow down.  Swiftly followed by that multi-millionaire digital guru, Arianna Huffington, telling us all to "switch off in order to find inner peace".  It seems that we all need to find that middle way between stimulation and tranquillity. Hey ho - it's back to the drawing board for me then - I expect I'll find one on the iPad !