The ubiquity of laptops, pint-sized netbooks, and web-enabled mobile phones can put Internet junkies in the rather unique situation of being both 'connected' and 'disconnected' at the same time. Connected to their email, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. Disconnected from their teachers, friends, and multitude of three-dimensional realities surrounding them. This may be mildly annoying to friends and coffee shop patrons (at least the ones who aren't doing their own mobile surfing). However, it can pose a bigger problem in the academic world. The familiar sound of keyboard tapping can be heard in lecture halls around the globe. Have portable electronic devices replaced the old paper and pencil for studious note-takers? Or are they serving as this generation's version of the 'dirty magazine' hidden in the textbook? Nobody really knows for sure and schools are developing 'netiquette' standards to keep up with rapidly-changing technology trends. Some profesors require speakers to be silenced and laptop lids to be closed during certain periods of class time. Others forbid laptops altogether.
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