[cylinder]

It's not about staring at the screen. It's about using that screen to contact your friends who live beyond your street to come over and sit around your fire.

People forget that 100 years ago that wasn't really an option.

[sliverstorm]

Friends who live twenty minutes away are far less likely to join on a casual and/or routine basis.

BTW, the telephone was invented nearly 200 years ago. Although, yes, travel options were more limited.