As far as I can tell his point is that he suffers from a kind of “information addiction” and it prevents him from engaging with the people around him as much as

As far as I can tell his point is that he suffers from a kind of “information addiction” and it prevents him from engaging with the people around him as much as he would like or accomplishing other goals, and that he switches reading a newspaper (still a form of compulsive solitary procrastination) if for whatever reason the internet isn’t available. Your comment is a non sequitur.