"[My brain] was demanding to be fed the way the Net fed it — and the more it was fed, the hungrier it became. Even when I was away from my computer, I yearned to check email, click links, do some Googling. I wanted to be connected."
"[P]eople naturally seek out [user-friendly] software tools and Web sites that offer the most help the most guidance—and shun those that are difficult to master. We want friendly, helpful software. Why wouldn't we? Yet as we cede to software more of the toil of thinking, we are likely diminshing our own brain power in subtle but meaningful ways. When a ditchdigger trades his shovel for a backhoe, his arm muscles weaken even as his efficency increases. A similar trade-off may well take palce as we automate the work of the mind."