"This time, I looked up, and all 10 or so of the people waiting in the show were literally buried, absorbed in their smart phones, and the shop stood stark sile

"This time, I looked up, and all 10 or so of the people waiting in the show were literally buried, absorbed in their smart phones, and the shop stood stark silence. The people on their own, the kids, the parents, the couples, the whole damn lot." Little bit of a shameless plug, and I apologize, but I wrote a piece recently about how this phenomenon is starting to have some very interesting effects in public places (supermarkets, for instance): http://priceonomics.com/are-smartphones-making-us-less-impulsive/ http://priceonomics.com/are-smartphones-making-us-less-impul... Everywhere I go, I see the same thing: people's heads buried in their phones. I hear the same thing: the continual pitter-patter of push notifications and texting. It is indeed creepy, but it's the new normal. And I wonder what things will look and sound like when wearable devices become the new normal. Another link, this time not a plug: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130920094627.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130920094627.ht... Endless stimulation and distraction -- whether from phones, from idle web surfing, etc. -- might have some really bad consequences for the brain. It turns out that the brain is unable to clear its cache, so to speak, when it's in a state of constant stimulation.