Margaret Morris, Left to Our Own Devices

"Well, to borrow a little bit from psychoanalysis, technology can act as this transitional object – something we latch onto when we're moving away from a secure base to take a risk. Similarly to how the proverbial baby blanket is clutched as the child is moving away from the mother, I think that the phone is clutched as people are going out by themselves to events that they may feel awkward being at alone. In that way, the phone allows them to take part in the world when there isn't a person playing that role for them.

There are also a lot of ways that people use technology to try on different selves. But I do think that we adjust technology, as we do physical objects like clothing, both as a way to reflect ourselves and as a way to shape who we are. The point is to always be expanding or refining how we are with other people. That’s the role that technology ideally serves." [book]