Will we experience a respite in technological advancement?

With the economy in the downturn, many people are eliminating purchases of luxury items, such as cell phones. This lull in new purchases has caused problems for the auto industry as discussed in my previous blog about GM: will we see these same problems occur in the cell phone and technology industries?
http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/5/economy-burns-cellphone-sales-down-22-in-q1

In the past 20 years we have seen technology turn from a large cell phone the size of a landline phone to a small blackberry computer that fits in your hand and pocket. Amazing technological leaps have been made in such a short time. As soon as one piece of technology is released, the companies work on new advances and better products, so that by the time the item goes on sale at a reasonable price for the average consumer, there is a new better product to be had. Our world is so fast paced with hundreds of emails going to individuals each day, text messages being sent, social webpages being checked, instant messaging, and regular phone calls being made. Technology makes it easy to communicate, but are people getting overloaded with messages and technology? I think it adds a lot of stress to people's lives having so much to keep up with, and would anyone be able to function if something happened to these connections? I've been on trips with my friends, camping for instance, and they have gone crazy without service or the internet. People went without it for a long time. I'm only 21 and remember dial-up, which would kick you off the internet if your house received a phone call. Now, if our computer takes more than 3 seconds to get to a webpage we freak out and lose patience. Plus, people barely have landlines anymore because everyone has a cell phone.

With this poor current economic situation, people are keeping their old phones, granted still advanced, but people have less money to spend on new high end advancements in cell phones. "The U.S and European markets are just about full-up on cell phones, which have become as ubiquitous in households as toasters or televisions. But with the struggling economy, cell phone consumers are hunkering down, often switching to flat-rate, lower cost models that allow them to keep a lid on monthly phone bills. It’s a prickly issue for Apple and Research in Motion, makers of the iPhone and the Blackberry, in particular" http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3311.html The cell phone companies may not develop new cell phones as often during this time and may focus more on making money through new plans with lower end models and focus less on upgrades. I think this would be a nice break for our society. We always talk about not having enough time and going going going every day that this could be just the rest we need.