Collateral benefit?

Sorry if I seem to be harping on the tablet PC again; I've been in Objective-C space all day, which sorta-kinda gives me diplomatic immunity. Or something like that. But I was mulling the implications of closing the chasm between desktop and smartphone even yesterday, and that even before the news of Apple's gobsmackingly boneheaded--in my biased opinion--decision to stay in bed with AT&T for the next two years. But here I'm talking about all the "Me, too!" efforts to come in the next ~18 months as the concept goes mainstream. Meaning a tablet that rings up at less than $500, even with a Bluetooth or other headset factored in.

Why? Think tablet PC + headset + Skype. Baaaaad juju...not just for AT&T, but all cellular carriers who--even in 2010--just don't get that the boundaries between voice and text and web exist exclusively in the delusions of corner-office morons. Morons who probably still refer to the act of calling somone as "dialing." (If--if--we're lucky, the suits in question aren't "retro" enough to also refer to their handsets as "the Ameche.")

But for the rest of us, there could well be one (considerable) collateral benefit, even beyond the extinction of the "data plan" swindle. Ever notice how folks wearing headsets tend to converse at more normal volumes (presumably b/c headsets allow them to hear the other end of the conversation better than a handset)? With even mediocre luck, the odds of not having to unwillingly eavesdrop on navel-gazing inanity should drop drastically in a world of tablets and headphones.

Dunno 'bout you, but that's something I know I can get behind.