Today DH and I were eating outside at a restaurant trying to enjoy the beautiful day. Two women and two kids who looked about seven or eight were seated next to us and the kids started playing games on an iPhone and gameboy with the sound on, no headphones. We were pretty annoyed because the games were obnoxiously loud so we asked, politely, that they turn the sound off. The women gave the dirtiest looks, as if this were the most immense inconvenience, and told the kids to turn them "down" -- not off. We could still hear it during our whole meal.

I get wanting to distract kids at a restaurant so you can have a nice meal, but I thought it was incredibly rude to do it at the expense of all other diners. Plus these kids were school-age and perfectly able to carry on conversations while playing, so it seemed kind of unnecessary. But what do you all think about devices at the table -- ok overall, ok with headphones, not ok at all?-- *ETA for your kids*