I'm pretty young and would consider myself on the "full use smartphones" side of the generation gap. However, I still think it's extremely rude to use a phone,

I'm pretty young and would consider myself on the "full use smartphones" side of the generation gap. However, I still think it's extremely rude to use a phone, tablet, and yes, even laptop, during a meeting. There is a very noticeable difference in attention capacity between those who take notes with paper and those who use electronic devices of any kind. Devices with a screen tend to draw your attention even when you are not typing. More importantly, almost everybody can write while looking up and making eye contact, but very few people can type while making eye contact. Almost nobody can use a touch screen no-tactile-feedback keyboard without gazing off into the great glowing yonder. Even if you can type on a laptop while maintaining eye contact, your shoulders are postured towards your keyboard and not towards the speaker. Writing with a pen or pencil gives you much more upper body range.