Like individual human beings, the media latches onto premises and develops theories that are often viewed as being set in stone. It is not uncommon, for example, to hear that such and such a thing is indispensable, that life would be impossibly constrained without it. The case of mobile smart phones is the most instructive.

People somehow managed to get by, to lead even half-decent lives, for thousands of years before the advent of the smart phone. They had jobs, raised families, faced challenges - some even got an education - long before the words, I am on the train, needed to be spoken into a portable receiver. If you took away all smart phones today, some folks (particularly older ones) would not even blink, others would be inconvenienced, some would surely panic for a while, but eventually, it would all settle down again. The landline business would boom, public payphones would reappear. Newspapers would rustle on trains, books and magazines would be read, conversations would re-ignite.

I am sure that an economist would tell me the cost in GDP loss to the economy but that would not matter. There is always a work-around if you want one.