Not exactly new, this is one theme from Stephen Talbott's 1995 book The Future Does Not Compute. There are many things I disagree with in it, but I strongly ag

Not exactly new, this is one theme from Stephen Talbott's 1995 book The Future Does Not Compute. There are many things I disagree with in it, but I strongly agree about his description that the internet, results in a "scattering of attention" and that incoming messages (email) increases the "fragmentation in the modern office". On a more personal note, I have noticed a distinct distraction factor to having the internet available, and a significant difficulty in concentrating for longer periods on books. In the late 1990s through 2002 I read over 100 new books every year (that is books that I had not read before and that I read the entire book - I didn't keep track of re-reading and reading articles or chapters here and there). Since I have been on the internet, I have read fewer books each year - 96 in 2004 down to 44 last year. I didn't actually realize it was that bad until I just looked up the numbers for this comment.