I'm right with you there. Just the other day I was asked by one of my young Italian students why I don't have a smartphone. Instead, I have this: http://images.samsung.com/is/image/samsung/uk_GT-E1080ZKIXEU_001_Front?$L1-Thumbnail$

I'm no stranger to mindless interest browsing, but I do enough of that at home on my laptop, and the thought of being able to check Facebook every thirty seconds terrifies me. It alarms me that people can't sit on the bus and just think about things during their twenty minute commute, but instead have to listen to music or play a game or chat on Whatsapp - have to have constant access to stimulation.

Not that I'd be one to lambast all of these uses; I just find them very jarring. There's always a moment during a night at the pub when one person starts to look at their phone, slowly prompting a chain reaction until everyone is doing it and I'm just twiddling my thumbs waiting for everyone to come back. It also seems to have become more socially acceptable to look at your phone while talking to someone, which I find quite impolite.

And then there's the ceaseless photo-taking...

But ultimately - depending on your own social environment - you do start to get left behind in certain ways. More and more often I find myself unaware of some planned event and when I ask about it people say "Wait, aren't you in the Whatsapp group?" It's just like being in university and people forgetting to invite you to things because they assume you're on Facebook.