I briefly dumped my smartphone while trying out Ting (didn't want to invest in a phone for that network until I was sure I liked it.) I could certainly live without a smartphone, but it's convenient to be able to look up things on a whim. I'm not the kind of person that constantly glued to my phone at every idle moment though. I don't use Facebook, Twitter, etc. Yes, occasionally I get shit about not being on Facebook because someone wants me to see some photos or whatever, but I don't care.

I went without a car until I was 24, so I can tell you, no, people did not talk on the bus before (not in the DC area anyway), besides normal polite things like "excuse me." (well except once some guy randomly said to me getting off the bus "Don't let anyone make you think you aren't beautiful" have no idea where that came from.) I did go to a company lunch one time that was kind of weird because everyone was staring at their phones. Situations like that almost make me feel like I ought to be doing something on my phone.