There is, maybe, a growing aversion to being in a position where our desires can’t be immediately gratified. Technology may have contributed to that, but it goes beyond technology.
Just to take a simple (non-technology) example, when I was a kid nobody carried water bottles. It’s not that the technology didn’t exist. Now, seemingly, everybody carries water bottles. My son won’t leave the house without a water bottle in his pocket. I asked a professor friend of mind just yesterday whether he had observed the same thing I had, that students carry water bottles almost like we carried No.2 pencils. He said, “Oh my God! This has got to be the most hydrated generation in history!”
There’s nothing wrong with being well-hydrated or with water bottles. My point is that we used to just wait until we came across a water fountain. There was nothing desperate about being a little thirsty. My son asks me “How can you go so long without drinking anything?”. I just have no trouble waiting.
We have become an “on demand” culture, used to having what we want, when we want it. The market caters to that expectation, quite naturally, by providing services and goods right when we want them. And that’s where technology comes in: it makes this instant gratification possible.
So I do think there’s a weird connection between the expectation that I should be able to call or be called at any time, and the need to be able to take a sip of water whenever I feel like it. Maybe we’re just not as comfortable with having unfulfilled urges.