Technology Has Us So Plugged Into Data, We Have Turned Off

By DENNIS K. BERMAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

A new plague of inattention is spreading. It's called "surfer's voice" -- a habit of half-heartedly talking to someone on the telephone while simultaneously surfing the Web, reading e-mails, or trading instant messages.

On one end of the phone is an annoyed colleague or family member discussing an important topic. On the other end, a party puts on a meager soundtrack of knowing participation: "OK ... uh-hum ... right ... OK." It is punctuated with surreptitious tapping of a keyboard.

The brainy people who study these things call this phenomenon "absent presence."

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