Phone Fatigue: Voice Calls on the Decline

[RamboLiberal]

Is this the end of the line for the cherished telephone call?

For decades, it's played a starring role in our lives and pop culture (can you imagine "E.T.", for example, without it?). But according to some, its heyday could be winding down.

In an article in the August issue of Wired magazine, Clive Thompson writes: "We're moving… toward a fascinating cultural transition: the death of the telephone call."

Citing data from media research firm Nielsen, he said the average number of mobile phone calls we make every year is dropping and our calls are getting shorter. In 2005, the average call was three minutes long, now they're not even half of that, he said.

The reason for the phone call's demise?

With the telephone, "we are constantly interrupting one another," he said. "The other tools at our disposal are more polite. Instant messaging lets us detect whether our friends are busy without our bugging them, and texting lets us ping one another asynchronously."

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/phone-fatigue-phone-call-dead/story?id=11355507