I cut my teeth in an era defined by print media – newspapers and magazines to be specific (broadsheets and penny presses were long gone, thank you very much).

So I’ve long been bemused by the imprecise editorial process that places major articles about common topics in the same issue, yet slots them in different sections and runs them with no acknowledgment of each other.

Especially when the two articles contradict each other. Like an article about grinding poverty in a developing country that runs in the news section while the leisure section waxes eloquent about the bespoke spas in the same destination.

So it was in the June 7, 2010, edition of the New York Times.

Page one showcased an article about the debilitating effects of the excessive information we get from an explosion of media channels ("Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price").

Meanwhile in the business section is an article about app developers indignant over AT&T’s plan to invoke tiered pricing for data users ("App Makers Worry as Data Plans Are Capped").

The piece chronicles the complaint among developers that the end of such all-you-can-eat data service plans could also be the end of innovation. Cue the melodramatic soundtrack.

The point here is not about contradictory editorial juxtaposition or my memory of actually reading news on paper once upon a time. It’s about this: why is enough never enough in our media-besotted culture?

On one hand we’re able to document and wring our hands about the downside of knowledge and data overload. Too much distraction, missed opportunities and disconnects in real life. The people featured in “Hooked on Gadgets”are aware of their dilemmas.

In fact, they are extremely savvy in the use of technology for communication and commerce. Yet they continue what they describe as tantamount to addictive behavior to the detriment of work, family and community life. Kudos to them for pondering whether enough is indeed enough. Still, I’m left to wonder how they don’t see their sole culpability in the situation.

Likewise the app developers for whom the sky is falling. Let’s face it. There is no dearth of great apps for mobile devices and no barrier to developing more – except for the inevitable saturation of the marketplace and a public too overwhelmed to embrace everything that’s thrown at them. Even when they’d like to. By no means am I suggesting that the world take a big pause.

That’s not going to happen. Innovation and change are necessary and often desirable. But if the decision by one business is enough to truly stifle innovation, then there is a bigger problem to consider.

"More" is not a necessity. It’s a choice. And when people make that choice there are implications. Sometimes enough is enough.

This post was written by Neal Kielar and originally published on Agency Babylon.