You're very right, back in the day a lot of people would complain about people reading newspapers on trains/buses and why these people "just can't let their mind wander" or whatever the argument was. Today you'll instead see people telling others they should put down their phone and read something "physical" instead, I don't think a single person today would complain about others reading books/newspapers on public transport.

In the future some people will surely feel the same about "Device X" and smartphones, and ask themselves "Why can't they be old school and just sit with their smartphone instead?"