Smartphones...

So, I read an article in the Globe today about smartphones and courtesy and it really got me thinking. Maybe it is just because I am so use to it when someone is talking and looks down and starts reading an e-mail or responding to a facebook post but it hadn't really occurred to me just how poor our manners have become in recent years.
Not that this is limited to smartphone users, non-smartphone users are guilty of this as well, it is just that smartphone users have more then just the occasional text or phone call coming in. They are flooded with Facebook updates, e-mails, sports scores, tweets and various other incoming content. It has become common place for someone to reply to a text or answer a call at the time it comes in, regardless of what we are doing.
I am not saying that I am not guilty of this, I have been known to carry on a text conversation simultaneously as a personal spoken conversation, but perhaps it is something that we need to work on to be more courteous to one another...

...or maybe I am just expecting too much of people and that this is where society has ended up due to our need for instant info and constant connection.