Every generation goes through the "kids these days" phase, everything new isn't as good as it was "back in my day." Add to this, as the author points out, a neo-ludism around the technology being used and the affect is magnified.<p>Overall, communication technology has made us more connected not less. What throws people is that those connections are no longer geographically bound. So that person you see staring at their phone isn't disconnected to those locally, they are very well connected to an international community.<p>Of course, one quibble. The author states:<p>"Maybe your friend has taken his smartphone out of his pocket because he has gotten a message that he needs to reply now. Or maybe it’s just that he feels a bit uncomfortable and is using his phone to try and avoid the awkwardness of the moment because he has social anxiety and you should respect that."<p>But I don't think it's neo-ludism to think it's rude to treat conversations you are in fact having locally as less valuable simply because they are local. Of course there are emergencies but when someone is constantly checking to see if there is a better interaction to be had, I'd still call it rude.<p>That aside, and I should point out the author concedes that there are rude people and situations involving technology, the points raised by the author are well stated and all to frequently missed.