India, Sept. 6 -- The last time I was at the Delhi airport, I decided to people-watch. What kinds of things did groups, couples and families do now, as they waited for a flight? I needn't have bothered. Everyone was on their phones. On a recent long-distance train journey, it was the same.

I confess, I felt a pang.

I thought back to even 20 years ago, when people would hurry to the railway platform bookstall, with its fragrance of fresh paper, to buy a small pile of magazines and paperbacks before their train arrived. I would invariably pick up (guilt-free, since you were allowed to read frivolous stuff on train journeys) film magazines and at least a couple of thrillers. Other, more serious-minded passengers would buy newspapers and ne...