How the iPhone ruined drunken debate
An expert mixologist says the ubiquity of smart phones has put the answer to every question at the fingertips of bar hoppers, and ruined the tradition of drinking and debating

"It used to be that the classical bartender was the professor of the people, the expert on all things debated and discussed across the mahogany," says beverage expert Derek Brown at The Atlantic. Now, smart phones provide barflies with instant access to the internet's infinite array of facts and figures. These ubiquitous gadgets have usurped the bartender's role as public house arbiter and killed the time-honored pastime of barroom debate. "All of this is fine for knowledge's sake," he says, "but it does little for our public life." Here, an excerpt:
One of my heroes of the stick, and a man who exemplified this trait, was Rickey-inventor George Williamson. He tended bar at the legendary Shoomaker's in Washington, D.C. — a stone's throw from the White House — and was known for both his drink-making and bar-side manner. His 1915 obituary from the Washington Evening Star states, "Many a great question of national politics has been thrashed out, if not settled, in [Williamson's] presence and himself participating in the discussion."
That was then. Last week I bought the new iPhone 4 — so you know that I'm not a Luddite — but I have to admit, while staring down at this little devil of a device, that it has all but obliterated the role of arbiter for the bartender. If you want to know how many yards John Riggins rushed for the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVII, you just whip out your smart phone and "Google it." (The answer: 166 yards.) If you want to know who was the 26th president of the United States, a quick visit to Wikipedia will do the trick. (For the record, it's Teddy Roosevelt.)
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Read the full article at The Atlantic.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How global conflicts are reshaping flight paths
Under the Radar Airlines are having to take longer and convoluted routes to avoid conflict zones
-
Zohran Mamdani: the young progressive likely to be New York City's next mayor
In The Spotlight The policies and experience that led to his meteoric rise
-
The best film reboots of all time
The Week Recommends Creativity and imagination are often required to breathe fresh life into old material