that will compress the dynamic range of loudness, so you don't have to sit there and jack with the volume control while watching a movie when it goes from dialogue to exploding helicopters. This also works for commercials.

I forgot to mention, that even in a phone conversation you have the tone in your voice to help communicate. And for instance if you girlfriend texts you and asks you where you were the night before, you have a few minutes to think about how you are going to respond. As where in a phone conversation, a delay in response of more than just a few seconds would tip her off that you may be making up a story on the spot. So maybe texting could make people more gullible as well.

you lose the ability to 'read' people, and the way people use gestures and facial expressions gets lost. I notice that when I intend to be sarcastic in a text or in an email (even with the silly :-p little ascii expressions) people don't really understand or grasp what it is I am trying to convey. Things like LOL get used so much, you don't really get to see how someone has genuinely responded to your text. Not to mention that its a lot easier to have a 'poker face' in a text message than when really looking someone in the eye. So in conclusion, I feel that people may be 'dumber' when interacting in face to face conversation with someone who has gained the ability to judge people by how they use body language. I think that the younger generation will lose the ability to pick up on subtle non-verbal queues. After all 80% of what you say is body language. :-)

Anyone with a radioshack scanner could listen in on anyones cell phone calls. I remember doing this, and actually found it quite boring. Listening in on peoples phone conversations is like reading random peoples twitters. Who cares when some random guy gets home and wonders whats for dinner, or when you are supposed to pick up your kids from some function? Certainly doesn't worry me any.