Barack Obama needs his BlackBerry to run the USA - and you should get one too

Madonna sleeps with one under her pillow, Barack Obama can’t play golf without his (as this YouTube clip shows at 1:45 ) and a whole generation of businessmen and women have become addicted to their Blackberry smartphones. Now the President-Elect has confirmed that even he won’t break the so-called CrackBerry habit.

And nor should he – his idea that it will help him communicate with ordinary people and “stay grounded” sounds overly romantic to me, but what mobile access to email can do for him, and you, is simple: it means you can get more done in the day. And, as anyone with an important job will tell you, there’s nothing more important than getting things done.

But these devices have simple, humane purposes, too. It was a BlackBerry that, when I was on my honeymoon, no less, meant that I could rearrange the flights that had gone slightly awry; it was a BlackBerry that Briton Mark Abel l used to communicate widely when he found himself caught up in the Mumbai terrorist attacks - you don’t have to be running a country, or even a company, to benefit.

Cliches abound about spouses who hate their partner’s addiction, about genuine, debilitating addictions and about the strains a BlackBerry can put on a users hands – but be realistic. Wouldn’t you rather who really thinks more, better communication is a bad thing?