If you were ever curious to know how fast our lives are becoming saturated with digital technology, get a load of this graph. In 2004 we were in the kiddie pool and by 2007 we were drowning.

Citing the Census Bureau's recent Statistical Abstract of the United States, Fast Company notes that an estimated 110 billion text messages were sent on cellphones in December 2008—more than double the previous year. Retail sales also soared from $24 billion when the decade began to $128 billion in 2007.

So where are we now? It's probably safe to assume that the Cracken has dragged our lifeless corpse to Davy Jones' locker. [Fast Company]