[somedudethere]

I think the difference is, when you called someone in the 90s to ask to say borrow a cup of sugar:

  Call neighbor. 1 minute of small talk
  Ask the question
  Get answer
  more small talk.
  Say goodbye.

Today it would be (via txt):

  A: can i borrow a c of sugar?
  B: y. come over
  A: k

A lot of communication happens through text messages which dramatically reduces the number of words you say to another human being.

I think what is more damaging is that most people can solve their own problems without ever having to rely on neighbors or even family. Cell phones, uber, and other services remove the need to ask for help. You don't really ask people for directions, ask the time, find out how to do something.

Yes. people still talk to neighbors, family, friends, etc. But it happens much less and in much different contexts. For instance the vast majority of people would not call their neighbor to check on their kids because they are stuck in a storm.

[TeMPOraL]

I wouldn't say it's bad, it's just different.

The text vs. call is an example of technology removing obstacles and inefficiencies. In your example, both of the conversations lead to people meeting face-to-face, but only one of them could be done while on a bus, or in between work meetings. Text-based communication enabled us to talk in situations when it wasn't possible before. I fondly remember late-night IM talks with my friends when I was in high-school. This is not something we could do on the phone, both because of stupidly high costs and because other people in our houses were sleeping.

RE most people solving their own problems, I think that's a) good, and b) not what actually happens. Good, because it means less time wasted for everyone in aggregate; not what really happens, because the world is getting more complicated and people delegate more and more understanding to third parties. Also, that we can solve some problems on our own doesn't mean there aren't other, more complicated problems - for help with which we end up calling the family or friends after all.

The world is fine, at least in this aspect.

[Chris2048]

Why wouldn't you smalltalk when you actually get over there to get the sugar?

Also, if you're arguing these devices reduce smalltalk, I'm not so sure of that. If anything, I'm more likely to idly chat to someone on IM due to increased opportunity to do so. Plus I can even put my daily life in tweets and post that reach an even greater audience than just whoever I happen to bump into.