Maybe so. But for those of us who were none too social to begin with, it gives us something to do.
I was on a plane recently, and I know the woman next to me wanted to talk to someone. After pretty much figuring out that she wanted to talk about herself, and she didn't really have anything interesting to say, at the earliest opportunity I put my headphones on, cranked up the Deep Purple and continued reading my Terry Pratchett novel.
The only thing about the tech bubble/force field that I don't like, is cell phone use. And that's only because everyone talks so loud, at a volume that pretty much includes everyone around them in the conversation.
Better than the "Shut up" cards, I found going up to those people after the conversation is over and mentioning part of their conversation back to them is a pretty good way of reminding them about keeping to their own "space". Saying something like "I hope that clears up" or "I hope the lawsuit works out" frequently makes them turn bright red.
I had one guy tell me that I shouldn't be listening to other people's conversations when I said something like that. I replied "If you think that, maybe you should find an appropriate spot and volume where you can carry on a
private conversation."
Oh, and you ever have someone with an earset on who you think is talking to you, when they're obviously involved in a phone conversation? And that person actually gets annoyed when you respond, as if the tiny earbud on the opposite side of their head is as obvious as an old fashioned rotary phone handset?
Imprisoned in a Technological Bubble of Our Own Making?
Linear Mode
