This struck me last week while I was traveling and has been stuck in my head since.  Given all the hype around Apple’s new gadget (talk about a masterful job of PR around a product launch) and a short blurb in today’s Seattle Times Tech Tracks, I thought a post on it would be appropriate. 

The proliferation of mobile devices means that people never have to be alone be it walking through an airport, shopping, commuting, etc.  I see this everywhere (and maybe am a little guilty of it as well) where people are flipping their phones open, sending a text message, typing an email, or talking on the phone (or at least being connected to another human – talking optional).  It’s something BusinessWeek calls "iSolation."

Even more interesting is to watch what happens when someone in a group is on their phone or sending a message.  Just like Pavlov’s dog, the conditioned response makes the others fumble with their phones especially if there are only two people – the one not talking looks for connection via their device. 

Maybe I’m in the minority here but I think it’s important to be alone every once in while…