Being disconnected from the Internet, whether it's for 48 minutes or 48 hours, was a refreshing slap in the face that life doesn't happen online: it's present, it's now, and it's going on with or without you.
Students today, particularly those in their first year who have not learned how to adapt to the demands of college life, appear to have been "rewired" by their proximity to and predilection for various sorts of gadgetry.
Maybe the answer is for all of us to unplug completely for a day, a week, or even a month. Maybe we should declare technology-free days to promote human connections.