I was getting the same feel from it. He uses the word fear a few times, and after I read that I couldn't help but frame the piece around social anxiety or insecurity about conversational skills. Of course, surface level it's about the annoyance and technical inefficiencies that come along with the device.

/armchair

I had the same thought. There is no reason a phone should cause you this much anxiety. He was powerless to act. He could have done a number of things, but instead he walked towards the tormentor and took it in full force. This is not the behavior of a healthy person.