It's torturous to claim that phones have a "primary commercial purpose of forcing people to look at advertising". Most people would say phones are for talking to loved ones, having fun, getting the news, and playing games. Just today, I skimmed the NYT and FT, read about the Polish author Jan Potocki (and tweeted out quotes from the article), emailed my landlord, and reminisced with friends about our favorite biscuit shop. Perhaps I saw some ads, incidentally.

I realize not everyone is doing what I'm doing. But, seeing my friends' baby's pictures and all on Facebook isn't altogether worthless.

There's a limit to useful cynicism.