Socrates: At the Egyptian city of Naucratis, there was a famous old god, whose name was Theuth; ... his great discovery was the use of letters ... This, said Th

Socrates: At the Egyptian city of Naucratis, there was a famous old god, whose name was Theuth; ... his great discovery was the use of letters ... This, said Theuth, will make the Egyptians wiser and give them better memories; it is a specific both for the memory and for the wit. Thamus replied: ... In this instance, you who are the father of letters, from a paternal love of your own children have been led to attribute to them a quality which they cannot have; for this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing... _The Phaedrus_, Plato, circa 370 BC This conversation has been going on for a very long time. :-)