10 Ways Technology Is Forcing Us All To Be Ruder

It's a scene so familiar that it's a cliché – you're out seeing a brand new movie, arm-deep in a tub of popcorn when someone's "Stayin' Alive" ringtone goes off. A million eyes shoot to the direction of the sound while the phone's owner wrestles with the settings to turn it off, his smile simultaneously reassuring yet apologetic.

There's almost no way to say it without coming off as some wily old codger, but our gadgets are making us impolite.

Technology has presented some tremendous boons to the world, but at least a little of it comes at the cost of our etiquette.