They also mentioned a lack of distractions, allowing them to grow their attention and focus. I'm pretty sure all of those will affect one's memory. Sometimes t

They also mentioned a lack of distractions, allowing them to grow their attention and focus. I'm pretty sure all of those will affect one's memory. Sometimes the wonders of modern computers are as much of a trap as they are beneficial. It was far easier to separate yourself from distractions when the tools were not a source of distraction in their own right. If the television was a distraction, you simply turned it off or went to another room. You can't simply turn off a computer or walk away from a computer when the task you are trying to complete is on a computer. It also helped that computers weren't quite the communications and entertainment devices that they are today. That is especially true of personal computers until the early 90's, where one had to quit a task, rather than momentarily switch away from it, to do something else. If you have that attention or focus, modern computers are absolutely amazing productivity tools. If you don't, it is an uphill battle to stay on task. Older computers may not be nearly as amazing as productivity tools, but at least you didn't have to face that battle.