Description:
This was written a while back for a competition. I was relieved to see it was not short-listed.
Any other outcome would have been paradoxical. 

Distracted
Distracted from distraction by distraction. These words were supposedly written by a certain Mister Eliot. I wouldn’t know. I never read them off a page. Just heard them said. By someone else.
A Mister Bean. One that actually talks.
Whilst I know nothing about the context in which they were written, yet possess the means to look up virtually everything that was ever said or written about the author and his work (or rather live in a time where such means are readily available at a mouse click’s notice), I have no intent to discuss the lives of Messrs. Eliot, Bean and Bean.
Instead, I am herewith putting forth the claim that whoever wrote the above statement knew a lot more about modern society than most of the people living in it. 
After decades of watching telly, a new age has arrived. A new phenomenon to declare a new era. 
No longer do we need to rely solely on that trusty box. Our companion for ages. At times educator, entertainer or both. Through all these years there was something missing.
We either gave it our time or simply took our pleasure from it. 
There was never a way to give back, though. Not so much in terms of returning the favour as having no means to retort.
It’s all a bit one-sided, innit?
Worse still, it didn’t really do the trick. We still can’t ignore, can’t forget, can’t comprehend, that what one day began will one day end. No reasons. No explanations given.
We get interested, invested in the lives of those around us. Real or imagined, past or present. 
Whereas it is not known if that is to seek understanding or diversion, or more, it is evidence of a need or, at the very least, desire.
It is entirely subjective to describe the evolution of the entertainment available as a decline over the decades, or simply the mere evolution of the medium and its context.
It furthermore cannot be said if any such presumed decline was responsible for the medium to be no longer sufficient, or rather that the availability of a newer, even more convenient medium contributed to our split attention to light entertainment. 
Whether it is the latest spectacle, a group of amateurs doing XYZ to crown the winner or a high-octane competition amongst the elite in their field flowing over the big or bigger screen, there is often a smaller or small screen present to bridge the gaps between the must-see moments. 
Disclaimer:
Whether the reader is aware that the above is essentially an extrapolation of the above’s quotation’s use in a contemporary video game to describe the invention or discovery of social media. As such, it can be assumed, the author is aware so far nothing said was an original idea and thus begs the question: where else can this be seen?
Why do we go on a vacation? 
To see another place far away from home? To forget or push back our busy lives at home and return with wonderful memories of place and a time that we don’t call home. Maybe to even offer us something to reminisce about later, in the dire times of everyday life.
We return home full of impressions and pictures to share with those who weren’t there. To relay to our friends and families what we have seen and…
Yet nothing we captured truly conveys the feel of the soil underneath our feet, the smells and sounds so different from what had come to know as familiar.

So in the end, I can only reiterate previous statement: I don’t have the foggiest about what T S was referring to with his declaration, but can surmise that a hundred-ish years ago he noticed us looking for something we still haven’t found. 
Whether that is because we, as a race, did not appreciate, meaning read, his work to gain insight, or because we all but stopped reading books altogether.
Going on a limb here, I’d go so far as to say the two are related:
Reading a book is a personal commitment. Listening to an audio recording of it isn’t. Is something to do. Something to entertain. Keep us busy. Something that will serve as….
And as long as that is the sole purpose of picking up a book, there’s a good chance that’s the sole purpose it will serve. 
Although there remains a chance that we might learn something from it, at worst spelling, at best, that’s it’s a really good alone time. 
But who on earth wants something as unexciting as that?
It’s not for everyone, admittedly.
On that note, let’s go to concert instead, that way we will have a 6” recording of our favourite moments and no recollection of the energy present.
As long as…
It’ll have to do…