I have mixed feelings about the tone of the article. Institutional distraction is a major cause of mishaps. In the BEA548 crash in 1972 its believed that an argument over industrial action contributed to the crash. No Personal Electronic Devices were involved. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_European_Airways_Flight... Similarly, in Colgan Air 3407, the crash was caused as much by organizational issues such as scheduling, and resulting fatigue, as by distractions and chatter in the cockpit.

Pilots and airliners are approaching an "uncanny valley" of automation where pilot workload is reduced to the point they switch off and don't fly the plane. Fatigue and other human factors are a greater issue than camera/smartphone use in the cockpit.

Air Crash Investigation: Who's flying the plane http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1we1rd_mayday-s06e03-speci... This special describes the issues of automation.