I remember when MP3 players showed up in lecture halls, and a posse' of students had to coerce a loud-listener to shut it off or leave. Cell phones and laptops were quick to follow... Regrettably, the public abuse of technology is epidemic, and the kids are a reflection of their doltish parents. So, yes, exile the toys and distractions to the dorms, and preserve the lecture halls for learning.

Thin is a relative term, and bandwidth was a serious problem with the organization that I used to work for. We were spread out all over the place, and many of our platforms were mobile. The thick client only had to move the data, but the thin clients were fussy about the pipes. So, speaking for one user, thin only worked well when I had a fat pipe.

My family lives in a very remote area of Pennsylvania and connect via a satellite link. Non of my neighbors care to spend that kind of money for something they have relatively little use for. Dial-up barely hits 22k because of poor phone lines. Instead, they get their news from the radio (wireless!), paper, and face-to-face conversation with friends and neighbors (social networking). As much as I love the Internet, it's a tool and not a solution. I still send my wife love notes by mail (stamp upside down) and look forward to the same from her. Not Luddites, just reasonable people that don't waste money on something that they don't need and doesn't enrich their lives. ay