As technology updates, so do the rules pertaining to etiquette. So how does the iPad fit into these rather ridged etiquette rituals we so often practice in public? What is the right time or the right place to use one? This article that I found on
cultofmac.com explores the correct use of using an iPad in restaurants. Nicole Martinelli, the author of this interesting article, cited a server who stated that people on iPads in the restaurant tend to take longer to eat and is therefore bad for business. Another server stated that one table were all on their iPad while eating, stating that it "seemed completely insane". However, it just seems to me like the iPad acts like a Gameboy would -another way of distracted children so that they do not act out.
I'm the type of person that believes that answering your cell when you are with someone is rude, yet I am sometimes guilty of breaking that social "faux pas". Now that we are connected to everyone with just a phone call, text message, or a social networking site it is natural to always want to keep up to date. The iPad puts everything right at our fingertips, whether it be games to distract children or current news to distract the more mature population. So I ask again, what are the rules regarding the proper use of the iPad in a public setting?
