About 3 months back I dropped my iPhone on the cold asphalt outside Reagan National Airport. The resulting "crack heard 'round the world" resulted in a hope and a dream that I could limp along on my 3G iPhone until Apple introduced whatever new shiny model they would introduce this summer. Sadly, that dream came to a crashing halt this past Saturday morning when the phone ceased working. Over the past month or so, I had been finding creative ways to restart the phone, fix the white screen of death, restore to the previous backup, etc. but no creativity was going to save my baby.

But this sad story is not the point of this post. The point is that about 5-6 months ago, I was introduced to the addicting nature of the silly network games like iMobster and World War. I label them silly because there is no real strategy involved. Instead, a successful player basically invests hours a day to complete missions, fight people, and level up. Leveling up then allows you to buy more stuff which then allows you to complete more missions and fight more people. The circle is endless. And, as is the case with these types of games, the more people you add to your circle, the stronger you become.

At first I thought the whole thing was silly, but I quickly got sucked into the mindless entertainment that was beating down people who didn't figure out the core strategy of the game - focus on buying items that produce money before anything else and then build your army/mob. Besides, it was a great game to play while you were waiting in line at the grocery store... or at a stoplight... or during a meeting... I'm kidding about the last one - kind of.

Well, paying attention to these games obviously means you are not paying attention to something else. That could be your work, your wife, or something obviously more important than the stupid game that was occupying your time. And the thing is, you don't realize how much of your attention is sucked by a game like this - until it is gone.

Which is what happened to iMobster about a month ago, right after I had joined up with the Death Chasers mob (yes, people actually form mobs which is a whole other story). Well, my sad phone went through one of its restore issues and during the restore process, the game reset itself, and after spending 5 months getting myself to where I was, I did not have any interest in starting from scratch. Wow, what a relief. I didn't have to check in with my mob Lieutenant, didn't have to fend off scrappy mobsters. I think I immediately gained back an extra hour a day of attention.

Circling back to this past Saturday, no phone meant no World War, my one remaining iPhone game addiction. I won't even begin to tell you the amazing peace I felt not having a phone all together - no text messages, no email, no checking in places, no games, no pictures, no tweets. It was pretty amazing. I think my family had 100% of my attention for a solid 48 hours - until I bought my shiny new replacement 3GS phone.

Now, I say this mostly in jest. It's not as if I was a bad husband or bad father, but the point is, now that I do not have the addicting little games on my iPhone, I am more productive, more attentive, and overall much happier.

The funny thing is, all smartphone users have some kind of secret obsession with something - whether it's a game, the Facebook app, or something else. And as summer creeps closer and we'll all be spending more time with our family and friends, and don't we owe them our undivided attention? Try it... I think you'll feel strangely fine.