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NBC’s “Today Show” informs us that one in eight Americans are addicted to technology. That would make Forbes managing editor Dennis Kneale the poster child for phantom addictions (“I had physical symptoms [of withdrawl].”).

The "Today Show" challenged Forbes managing editor Dennis Kneale to give up his cell phone, BlackBerry and email access for one week. Check it out in full here. Kneale is forced to wear a watch (!) instead of rely on his cell phone to tell time. Still, he shows up to work an hour late one the first day.

Not even a signal-free subway ride put Kneale at ease:

“On a subway ride, you can do four emails, five emails. By the time you come up in the open air, boom, they just zap out there. You got them delivered.”

Sure, not having a cell phone can be disorienting. But Kneale is really taking it to an extreme (“I was like a cigarette smoker who’s quit but still bums cigarettes from friends outside, asking cab drivers, ‘Can I borrow your cell phone?’”).

Lest we forget, cigarettes actually have addictive properties. A BlackBerry? Not so much. But I suppose if you whine as much as Kneale, you could convince someone otherwise…

Needless to say, this bleak life of payphones, landlines and snail mail didn’t suit Kneale. He crashed and burned 40 hours into the challenge:

“Give me back my f---king cell phone.”

...complete with tearful office breakdown!