These phones are ubiquitous, their usage omnipresent, their owners often oblivious to anyone nearby. At a time when many smokers check with those around them before lighting up, few cell users seem to even hesitate before whipping out the phone for that all too crucial conversation. You may be trying to have a nap on a train, peacefully reading a book at the library, or sitting enjoying a movie, when some jerk next to you just starts jabbering away. Worse yet, the call which couldn't wait for less intrusive circumstances may be a reminder to bring back the video to Blockbuster, or perhaps something even less urgent and profound. The problem is that as technology for telephones has grown by leaps and bounds, the quality of the verbal exchanges on them has not.
Intelligence is focused more in the chips than in the chats.
By now, the novelty of calling people from just about anywhere having long ago worn off, cell phone use has become a matter of status. Some individuals have the real or imagined need not only to reach out and touch someone at a moment's notice but to advise you and everyone else within earshot of all the details of the conversation, whether or not there is really anyone at the other end of the connection. Having only fairly recently updated my phone to a push button version, I admit that I am not one predisposed to appreciating the latest in phone technology. But even I can see the value of having a cellular phone available for emergency or truly important calls. What I can do without is the non-stop exposure to the mundane minutia of the everyday telecommunications of people I don't know.