An apt metaphor for how technology continues to drive us inward is the Katrina-style ghetto into which the press has been herded for the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show.

Used to be that there was enough room, enough lunch, and enough bandwidth for all of us, but the comparatively cozy press luncheon at the Venetian has been removed, leaving only the free-for-all at the Las Vegas Convention Center, something humane slaughterhouse advocate Temple Grandin might recognize from the barbaric pre-squeezie chute days.

People continue to look at their screens when the Internet is down.

A clear tarp has been put down on the carpeting as bloggers, editors, reporters, and photographers sprawl to a vanishing point down the long hallways leading to the Sands Exposition Center. They loll like sea lions, hoping for the Wi-Fi to work again.

Only those with personal access points and a bag lunch from Subway are thriving.

It reminds us that systems break down and, even as millions gather, superficially, on social networks, consume identical Blackberrys and iPhones, and leave cyan vapor trails while sporting Bluetooth headsets, our technology tends to isolate us.

See also: 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show