The current Verizon ad asks:

“What are you giving up?” by not being on the largest, most reliable network, sharing every moment, streaming all night long, watching a movie in a tent, drowning out the sounds of nature, all around?

The more relevant question, especially for those with young children, is: What are you giving up if you ARE constantly connected? Reminds me of the insight from Bill McKibben in The Age of Missing Information:

Having been given the gift of light, can we use it to light our way on a dark night when we need to go somewhere – or must we keep using it as a floodlight, to wash out the darkness always and everywhere? Unlike all the other animals, who have these decisions made for them, we have to choose.

When we choose to channel our sensory experiences into a constant, narrow media band, what are we sacrificing? Do we understand the flattening of sensory experience and how it might affect development? How can we let powerful media tools take a proportionate place in our lives and those of our young children?

What do you think?