Is email important? And what can get in it's way?

Excuse me, but when did the technology in our lives go from nice to essential?  

I am more and more aware that we have little or no control over how we are treated in the cell phone realm.  We have become slaves to those electronic leashes.  In most cases we are dependent upon these things being reliable.

Today we spent several hours sitting in one phone place or another (ATT store and service center.)  The repair center was our final destination, and it is not on our way to anything.  This is the fourth time in six weeks that my e-mail has refused to be transmitted to my  Blackberry, and it would not send anything either.  The e-mail worked fine from my desk top which is wired to my desk at the office, but when it came time to hit the road, I was without it.

Sure, I accept that I am responsible for getting hooked on this little convenience, but hooked I am.    Now I am essentially out of business or incommunicado when we are away form the desktop.

The solution to this bothersome situation was to change out my phone for a new phone exactly like the first two, transfer all my data and call it good.  This would be much more palatable if it had not been done just a few weeks ago.  With the sacrifice of several hours of my time, I am now the proud owner of a working phone again.  No one can tell me how long this one will work though.  Perhaps the best overall solution is to accept that I should factor in several hours every two or three weeks for a repeat performance?