I used to think the same thing, until I started working with a team on site doing time sensitive work. PTT simply gets things done faster. There's no call(verbal or electronic) call setup teim and no call tear down. Time your next "where did you put the punch down tool" phone call, from the time you start thinking about it to the time you press end and put the phone back in your pocket. PTT will get that call done faster every time. It you make two of those phone calls a day, the extra two minutes doesn't matter. If you make 50 of them, it's a huge productivity boost.

Yes, it's a sociological problem. We should be ok with picking up the phone and hearing "where am I going next?" but for the most part we're not, we want to have a conversation.

Now, to every last PTT carrying person out there: TURN OFF THE GOD DAMN LOUDSPEAKER WHEN YOU'RE NOT ON THE JOBSITE. Every PTT system I've used can be set to vibrate instead of going directly to speakerphone.