“Are we so dependant on our mobile devices [phones] that we disregard some basic etiquette concerning their use, or is it just absent mindedness?”.

Both.

There are some people with cellphones that just absolutely CAN’T be out of touch. Or so they think. It’s not that they depend on them, but rather have an inflated sense of self that makes them believe that they are so important to the world, that people have to be in constant contact with them. They are just plain rude with them. They talk loudly on them when the get calls, so that everyone knows they’re important. They often have a Bluetooth headset to show that they can’t be bothered to hold the phone. Before cellphones, they were the ones with beepers that constantly went off at the worst times.

I personally have simply forgotten to put mine (2 phones, work and personal) on “vibrate” before entering church or some other public function. I don’t turn my work phone off, since I am on 24-hour call every 4th week for work, and don’t want to forget to turn it back on. I don’t turn off my personal phone because of having 2 elderly parents with multiple health problems. But in both cases I am concious of my surroundings, and adjust the ringer accordingly.