One of the things missing from these "technology will lead us to ruin" articles is some real statistics for the situations before and after the introduction of the technology in question. For instance, how many unnecessary rescues were called out simply because people were out past their expected return time? Cell phones and some PLDs enable hikers to tell people that they are simply late but OK (or call in help for a real emergency...), but also make it easier for hikers to make potentially frivolous calls for help. Similarly GPSes may help some to get to places where they should not go, but have also prevented some from getting lost.
These technologies are double-edged swords replacing an imperfect prior system. These doomsayers often (generally?) forget that the prior system was also imperfect...
Until these articles start presenting the entire situations before and after with real statistics of all pros and cons, then I give them a great big YAWN.
Doug