This is the Modem World: I'm giving up absolutely nothing

One thing that has always bothered me about the "I'm giving up X" or "People aren't doing Y anymore" doom and gloom articles is that they demand a one-size-fits-all approach to technology and culture.

It's not a sign of a "cultural pandemic" (borrowed from the article) that people on the subway don't talk to each other, and instead read emails and play games on their phones. It's a sign that people you meet on the subway are usually weird, and we would rather devote our scarce time to people we care about and liesure activities than interacting with strangers. This is not new, and not a bad thing. Stop acting like technology is a drug so you can write a hacky sensationalist article about how you gave it up.