What came first, the chicken or the egg?

So I'd like to start by saying a lot of the reading was very wordy and threw me for a loop, but in the end it all seems to connect together. All these articles seem to focus on what came first, the new technology or the need of the technology by the social network involved. It is much like the question of which came first the chicken or the egg. This question really has no answer because each one thing needs the other to exist. Technology and the need for the technology are the same. If we didn't need the technology or have a desire for it, it probably wouldn't be created. Although I found Raymond William's essay on television a little confusing and hard to grasp, I also was intrigued by the points he made and the connections he talked about between society and technology as a whole. It makes sense that communications technologies were improved upon to aide in our military and commercial systems. The expansion of the country in geographical terms shows us that new and better technologies were needed to connect government and industrial societies from coast to coast. This illustrates the point that technologies were invented with intention. These technologies were looked for with certain purposes and practices in mind. But just because some things are intended to be used for one thing, inevitably they can and are used for other things that were not intended. In "Digital Sensations" by Ken Hillis he says that instead of talking about the impacts of technology we should think and talk about it as the co-evolution of technological and other social practices. To me this means even though the invention of all these new communication technologies have altered our lives in very specific ways, if they hadn't come about our lives would be dictated by other forms of communication. If our society hadn't been changing and becoming more mobile the need for the new technologies would never have even existed and therefore would have taken a lot longer to come about. Since our society needed and wanted these new technologies more effort was put into creating them.
Now because I am an old fuddy duddy there was one idea in Catherine Covert's essay that I wanted to comment on. She says, "One of the costs suffered in confronting such new technology-indeed in confronting anything new-was that of a sense of loss; loss of old behavior, old values, old relationships, old senses of the self." This is one point that I have been agreeing with for a long time. New technology is amazing and useful in many ways, but what damages is it doing to our society? I feel that personal connections and relationships are taking a beating. Before the invention of all these devices the only way to communicate was face to face. Now much of our communication is done over the phone or electronically through the computer. Things are becoming less personal and have less feelings attached. I feel this is somewhat alienating to our society as a whole. People are becoming much to self-absorbed with their own lives and missing what is happening all around them. Not only are our personal relationships being changed and harmed, but our own sense of self is being damaged. Ten years ago cell phones were a rare sight around N.E. Iowa, now they are standard issue. I personally feel they are more of a nuisance than anything else. I admit they are handy if you get in a jam and need help or for emergency purposes. Now people's lives revolve around their cell phones and whose calling them, or text-messaging them. Not to mention if you carry your phone with you everyone can always find you. Doesn't anybody want to be left alone anymore just to think or do whatever they want without being interrupted? The cell phone is just one example in an ever-growing field of new technologies. My question is this: Are all these new inventions really improving our lives or are they hindering our own personal relationships?