The smartphone is making an audible difference to the world (writes Clive Thompson at Wired). He’s spotted that his mobile phone bills are dropping, and there’s one obvious cause. he’s not phoning people as much as he used to, and what calls he is making are not lasting as long. It’s all to do with the rise of social networks and smartphone connectivity, "This generation doesn’t make phone calls, because everyone is in constant, lightweight contact in so many other ways."

Thompson has a point. The majority of my calls are of the “where are you” and “get some milk” type, and while I’m happy to use texts for this, I wouldn’t call that high tech social connectivity – at least not from the European perspective. What I think he misses is that picking up the phone and talking to someone is still regarded as being a bit more polite, and in this lightly connected world one of the few ways to completely capture someone’s attention.

Plus it all supposes that you have a capable phone to do all this, and that you are happy being connected and plugged in to the internet. For all the potential, staying connected still has an impact on battery life and budget, and an almost pathological need (ADHD) to constantly check your phone to see if someone is there.

Still, a nice Monday morning read over your coffee.