Work Life Balance in a 24/7 world - my recent experience!

Recently, when I was overseas, about 5 of us attempted to spend time together and I had posed a difficult challenge by asking them to take time off during the week! That request by itself was preposterous but I had no choice since I was flying back home. My friends obliged and I shall remember the 2 days together for a long time to come and how the world is changing - not sure if it is for the better!
Today, taking a few days off really means that "i will be working from home"! It was quite a sight to see how all of us were juggling our laptops, cell phones and email boxes while snatching a few moments in between to be together!Each of us had our own "net meetings" to attend and being thrown together in a small space compounded the problem - with 2 kids for company. The kids of course have now come to believe that when Dad and Mom say they are working,they mean attend meetings!
I could not help eavesdrop on the different meetings that were going! One of us was saying " Yes Mike, we need to look at the roadmap and clearly strategize the way forward"...I couldnt figure out what that meant but it sounded terribly important and earth shaking! When one of the kids was protesting neglect, the mother was saying "Quiet! Daddy is on a call...as soon as he finishes he will take you all to the Park because Mom needs to get on to another meeting"!
In between all of this, we took turns taking a shower, having breakfast, managing the kids, etc Somewhere else in another part of the house I could hear "Dont worry, I have the demo under control...it'll happen"!
"We need to use the budget otherwise we wont get it next year"
I was left wondering whether the so called flexibility that organizations are now offering their employees is a boon or a curse?

I guess when we work in global organizations with matrixed teams and reporting, 24/7 working and availability becomes the norm and "following the sun" becomes the rule!

What is happening? And do we really think that 24/7 availibilty is 24/7 productivity or are we fooling ourselves?