I LOVE this ranty post…  Not only does doubleX’s Samantha Henig nail it with her comments on how digi-devices detour us from driving and decorum, she articulates how they’re killing the art of the conversation, beyond just the incessant interruptions.  It happens all the time:  You’re debating when the Beatles broke up, and some Crackberry starts reciting the history of British rock.  Get a life! 

As she points out: 

Good conversations depend, at times, on some degree of ignorance and mutual discovery—piecing together theories and ideas from conversants’ collective knowledge. When the person with the fanciest phone suddenly puts all the answers on the table, it strips away much of the art—and fun—of the activity.”

Amen, sister.  Can we talk?  Just talk?  Get real and get to know each other?  Knowing factoids just cuz Wikipedia is at your fingertips does not make you smart.  Just geeky (and insecure?). 

Long live the eye-to-eye, rather than the iPhone-to-iPhone!