I think map reading is more useful than handling a specific form of a specific technology. It's hard to imagine a situation where a rotary phone would ever be useful - they don't work on their own, but require infrastructure as well. A map however is more or less timeless and can be used even if you end up somewhere with nothing else.
Point taken, the metaphor was not very appropriate (but again which metaphor is). Again to the argument: is it worth complaining people have lost the practice (I won't say "ability") of reading maps, an obsolete (as of today!) form of orientation? Did anything atrophy making them unable to (re)learn it when needed again? Because it's not like anyone was born with map-reading skills, or had a special gene for it, so I'd say whenever we'll need paper maps again we will handle it again just as well.
