February 28, 2014: Mobile Internet Device Users Surpass Desktop Computer Users

February 28, 2014: The number of people in the U.S. using mobile devices to access the internet overtake those using desktop computers for the first time, a feat which would be followed globally in 2016.

Was this a good thing? It means that, now, we can find just about any piece of information we want, anywhere we might be. But, as was previously remarked (by, among others, newspaper columnist William Safer) about the telephone, online communication has harmed face-to-face communication. We are more connected than ever before, and, at the same time, more isolated from each other. Online, we seem to be less "people," and more "accounts."

I think this can be overcome. What journalist Edward R. Murrow once said about the potential, if not enough of the reality, of television, I want to say of the mobile telephone: "This instrument can teach." After all, you can hold in your hand one single device that is, all at the same time, a library, a post office, a department store, a radio station, a television studio from which you broadcast, a newspaper that you publish, a map, a calculator, a calendar, a clock, an alarm clock, a notepad, a flashlight, and, oh yeah, a telephone.

It also makes any old TV show or movie where a mobile phone would be handy obsolete, from the Seinfeld episode "The Parking Garage" to any sitcom episode where anybody is locked in a room -- unless the reception is bad, and they can't get a signal.

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February 28, 2014 was a Friday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 7 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Golden State Warriors, 126-103 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Utah Jazz, 99-79 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 113-107 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena (now the Paycom Center) in Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant scored 37 points.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Dallas Mavericks, 100-91 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 92-82 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio. With the New Orleans team, formerly the Charlotte team, having become the Pelicans, the new Charlotte team was able to adopt the Hornets name the next season.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 116-104 at the US Airways Center (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix. Goran Dragić of the Suns led all scorers on the night with 40. Anthony Davis scored 32 in defeat for the Pels.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings, 126-122 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

And there were 4 games in the NHL:

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-2 at the First Niagara Center (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-2 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Anaheim Ducks beat the St. Louis Blues, 1-0 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

* And the Minnesota Wild beat the Vancouver Canucks, 2-1 in a shootout at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.