Yesterday, I dropped my Blackberry Storm on the floor of my home office. The floor is laminate. So when the Blackberry fell, I had a "Holy Shit!" go through my mind.

I picked it up, and everything seemed to work just fine.

But for that brief moment, my life flashed before me.

When I got my first cell phone years ago, dropping it on the ground didn't really bother me all that much. First of all, they seemed to have a more solid construction back in the early 1990s. But more importantly, in those days a cell phone did only one thing: phone calls.

Fast track to this Blackberry Storm, and it's a different story. It's still largely a communication device, but not just a phone. I'm always reachable via e-mail and text-messaging. When I'm in my office, my laptop contains my entire business. But the Blackberry is my office away from office. So, if this thing falls on the floor and breaks, it's like being castrated for a few days until I can get another Blackberry.

So, I have one of those rubber cases around the Blackberry, and a write-protector sheet over the display. Maybe that's a little extra insurance to keep my business running full steam ahead.

But the thought I wanted to leave you with, is that we're taking bigger and bigger risks as we become more dependent on these devices. As they get smaller and more powerful, they effectively become our office, storing all of our documents, providing connectivity, portability, allowing us to be more productive than ever. But all it takes one drop to the floor (or douse of water), to see your business take a serious setback.  ✓