bbbean 

I think you are making a lot of assumptions. Are there people who depend on being connected at all times? Yes. Are there people for whom this connectedness reduces their self reliance? Yes. Does that mean this is the one and only valid perspective on the issue? Of course not.

An example/analogy - When I travel for pleasure, I take my laptop and cell phone. Occasionally other vacationers will object to this, suggesting I abandon my electronics so I can relax. What they don't take into account is that I am a sole proprietor, I service customers whose financial well being depends on my services, and the market trades for 18 hours a day 250+ days a year.

Prior to the widespread availability of cell and wifi, it was nearly impossible for me to be away from my office for more than a long weekend, and even those were anxious events for me and my customers, given the lack of communication and inability to respond quickly to major market surprises. I went for well over a decade without being away from my office more that a few long weekends a year.

Now, however, I can take a week or more off at a time, and can spend most of the slow season away from the office if I simply check in with the market and key customers for 10-30 minutes a day. That frees me up to relax and enjy myself far more than I coudl if I "disconnected."

On my bike, Garmin live track is passive. If I decide to change my route mid-ride, there's no need to make a call or register the change in route. I simply go where I please, and my wife doesn't worry that I might be 30 miles away from where she thought I was if I should fail to show up at or near the appointed time.

For me (and others), tracking doesn't function as a tether. It functions to free me from the tethers. I'm still on the hook for repairs and weather either way.