Digital Phantom Device Syndrome

Catchy phrase for the permanent or temporary loss of a digital device.

The feeling the device is really not dead, if you shake it just one more time, hold the on-off button just a second longer, and all will be well.  The feeling that another search on the web, just one more Google search, will provide the incredibly simple miracle cure? Waking up in the middle of the night because you heard its power-on beep?
The feeling it is still there, the email notifications are coming in as before, the update prompts look & feel exactly like they did before?

Since the dawn of the digital age, stories about inordinate dependence on computers and, later, handheld devices have been told. Many articles and tales use the addiction image, putting people into the netherworld associated with substance addiction.

The world of "it is your own fault", "you are weak", "blame my dad", "blame society", "this is a danger to you and the people you love", and so forth.

TheEditor does not like the addiction image, despite being aware that many a psychologist will rightly point out similar symptoms and behaviors.

When a pet dies, society generally does not slap the "addiction" label on your grief or even slightly weird comportment, right?

So, please give people whose favorite digital device unexpectedly dies the same benefit.

If you cannot do this or believe you should not, try the catchy "Digital Phantom Device Syndrome". It allows you to hold on to some sort of medical metaphor and might even make you smile.

Remember that very first smile after the loss of a pet when you were a child?