It seems an extension of humanity from its dawn, the stone age. What's different is the extent of reliance on so much to be able to use it, the secondary and probably tertiary reliance on: electricity; gadgets and support to make them work; politics....

I wonder how all those glued to their smartphones would make out in the days of the zombie apocalypse or a major war.

Don't rely on it more than you have to seems the answer.