Can you hear me now?

During a delicious chat with a friend recently I said something along these lines:
We now have all these ways to connect to other people, but have nothing to say.

You know what I'm talking about. How many people (are you one?) dive to get their cellphone so they can call someone and say these profound words: I just landed.
What did we do before cell phones? I guess people simply assumed that you landed unless there was a breaking news story about your plane on fire.

In many ways it reminds me of the old computer pings. You know the one I mean:
Are you there?
I am here. Are you there?

Now don't get me wrong, I am no Luddite. Technology has many wonderful uses and can certainly make certain things much more pleasant. But is there really a need for this constant pinging? Why not wait until one actually has something to say?

What do you think?