And why is there still a quarter-mile line zigzagging around the mall? A telephone? Right, right... GPS... music... really fast Internet. Sexy. But plans don't come with a great mortgage rate. They don’t come with free gas either. So maybe my homeboy Phil Gramm was on to something with his "mental recession" assessment.

Is there such a thing as recession-proof stuff? If we’re all being tight with our wallets, then why, in this time of economic turmoil, are certain industries thriving? The Takeaway turns to Columbia business professor Cheryl Einhorn then goes to Stockton, Calif., (dubbed “the foreclosure capital” by 60 Minutes), where sometimes a bad turn can mean good business — for pawn shops.
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Apple’s iPhone 3G goes on sale this morning. This iPod, GPS mapping system and wireless Internet telephone is generating some serious buzz. But is it worth all the hype?
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Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") and Seth MacFarlane ("Family Guy"), two of television's most powerful showrunners, are taking their brands online. Whedon's "Dr. Horrible" will be an on-the-cheap supervillain musical. MacFarlane's "Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy" will be distributed by the advertising juggernaut Google, who just might be reinventing TV...
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Guest: Maggie Jackson, journalist and author of "Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age"
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A decision expected later today could radically expand the number of top-level domain names available on the Web. Many governments anticipate a more global World Wide Web experience sensitive to cultural identity while many others fear the potential for confusion and online fraud.
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The times they are a-changin'. It’s a quick-hit, fast-paced world and getting information isn’t what it used to be. For a professor in Atlanta, this historic election cycle has been a chance to watch how new and first-time voters have become engaged with the democratic process—and the tools they are using to stay informed.
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Gaylen Isely

Watch a collection of video and images on Andy Brudtkuhl's iowaflood.com and view a slideshow of Iowa flooding photos on Flickr.
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The Takeaway speaks with British rock band The Get Out Clause. They've made innovative use of CCTV cameras in their home city of Manchester to create a music video for their new song.
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A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that nearly three out of 10 American households receive almost all calls by mobile phone. But if the landline is on the wane, University of Virginia professor Siva Vaidhyanathan says a more compelling chapter in telecommunications is just beginning — and our relationship with the phone itself is being redefined.

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Guests: Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchak
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The work I used to do in radio was generally done with a screwdriver. I ripped the backs off of commercial radios and hacked and tweaked them to my own specifications. Every radio warned on the back in scary typefaces that I was taking my life into my hands.