Neal Stephenson was pretty critical of our use of smartphones in his novel Anathem. Most of the common people were glued to their "jeejahs" (smartphones) all t

Neal Stephenson was pretty critical of our use of smartphones in his novel Anathem. Most of the common people were glued to their "jeejahs" (smartphones) all the time in the book. There was a good piece written by io9[1] where they interviewed Neal Stephenson to ask him his views on cellphone usage today. He had this to say: "There is a larger question here . . . having to do with attention span and ability to focus on complex problems—or even non-complex ones, such as driving or having a civilized conversation with someone next to you. This is what the avout find so alarming about the cellphone-like devices used by people in the world of the book." When asked if he felt that cell phones in our own world might represent a wrong turn, technologically speaking. He said: "I couldn't live without mine. But the etiquette and the interface are lagging behind the technology. Introduction of new technology often leads to disruptions in manners that can take a generation or more to play out. We're in one of those awkward times now." [1] http://io9.com/5046316/neal-stephenson-explains-whats-wrong-with-mobile-phones http://io9.com/5046316/neal-stephenson-explains-whats-wrong-...