The dead spaces in my life have been completely consumed by a diet of information snacking that may end up making my "2 Big Mac at 2am" habit from college look downright healthy. And I am not sure there is anything I can do about it.

It used to be the case that waiting in line at the grocery store provided an opportunity to press pause on the day and think a little bit. Not necessarily the Big Thoughts either— but just about anything that might have happened throughout the day that might be worthy of a few extra CPU cycles. Ditto for commuting. Taking the dog for a walk. Waiting at the dentist. In fact, if you look at our lives outside of work, they resemble fragmented databases: tons of seemingly blank spots between a few really meaningful records, all of which used to afford us little slices for out of band thinking.

But those were the days when I was just as likely to take my cellphone with me on errands as I was to take a paperback book. That is, those days are long gone. These days I am more likely to forget my wallet than my iPhone (and I'd prefer it that way).

The recently published data on people's usage of the G1 smartphone's data plan (5ox more likely to surf the web than regular users, 80% go online at least 1/day) reminded me of just how all-consuming this really small, instant-on, web-capable computer can be. Having it with you all the time means that any piece of information, entertainment, or social interaction is just a one idle CPU cycle away.

I remember when Blackberries first became prevalent, how many spouses learned the "Forget it Face—" that angry, scowling look that meant "it's the weekend, put it away." But those devices were much less dangerous— after all they provided only one vector for distraction: work email (which at some point anyone will tire of).

But today's smartphones are different. From Twitter to Facebook to just about any piece of content on the web, the distractions are endless. People worry about Google making us dumber, or at the very least changing the way in which we think. But it strikes me that the smartphone, with its constant ability to immerse us in the flow of the Metaverse (albeit in a limited way, today) is likely to play a much bigger role in how our neocortex changes the way in which we think, from the basic "processing" we do about the mundane details of our day to the very way in which insight happens.

And like all great disruptors, it's going to start by doing it first in the dead spaces of our lives where we might not care or even notice. But just wait until we get to a place where you are out to dinner with another couple on a Friday night and it becomes totally acceptable for four smartphones to be out on the table to grease the slow parts of the evening and then ask yourself: is this really worth it?