I look at this another way, if I'm sitting at a cafe with someone else, usually a newspaper will stimulate conversation by commenting on articles. Laptops on t

I look at this another way, if I'm sitting at a cafe with someone else, usually a newspaper will stimulate conversation by commenting on articles. Laptops on the other hand encourage communication with people not actually in the cafe, lowing interaction at the cafe. Maybe a better middle ground was banning laptop use on a weekend beyond the quick checking of email, part of this would involve not allowing laptops to be plugged in.