The topic of cell phones is on the cusp of surpassing weather as the de facto small talk subject. iOS7. Which service provider gets the best coverage. Whether or not the NSA is stealing your fingerprint data on your new iPhone 5s. How the word phablet could possibly have made it into the Oxford dictionary.

Why can’t we stop talking about our phones? Perhaps it’s our perpetual usage, checking them 150 times per day. We don’t give our brains much time to think about the off-screen world.

However, we may be nearing a tipping point or at least the acceptance phase. Articles and videos that announce the mass revelation of our mobile addiction are going viral. We share and “like” these stories on the smartphones they condemn, all too aware of the irony in doing so. Yet we can’t stop.

And the business machine doesn’t want us to.

Verizon recently unveiled a new plan, Edge, that allows you to purchase a new phone every 6 months. That’s crazy. My girlfriend has managed to survive with the same phone for 36 months and counting! Apple just launched two new models and is seeing record sales — 9 million in the first 3 days.  We’re obsessed, and we know it. Businesses know it too and are reaping the profits.

If we’re to return to a less-connected life in which the day’s temperature remains our go-to conversation starter, we need to accept that our fully functioning iPhone 4s is as relevant today as it was a week before the iPhone 5s announcement

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