Good article!
The irony (for me) is that my phone is the one device/platform I don't ever intend to play 4x games on -- simply because I know myself, and realize only too well how easily I could get addicted to it.
I'm all about the PC games, of course, and -- on the rare occasions where I have the opportunity to do so -- you'll never have to twist my arm to get me to sit down and play 4x boardgames. (I *still* have yet to check out
Space Empires, dang it.) But just as many recovering alcoholics avoid going to bars, I stay far, far away from 4x mobile games.