As far as a distraction goes, I don't know about that. I definitely use it as a time filler where I used to read a lot more books. On the other hand now I read more news and opinion than I watch on TV, so all in all I think I read more than I used to, and watch less TV.

Socially, as someone who lives alone (and likes it that way), I find it a benefit to be able to chat with friends and family casually. As my friends and siblings started to have kids, I found that phone calls were nearly impossible, and email and now Facebook are a lot more convenient for everyone. Not to mention TL where I have found some kindred spirits, at least on some level.

I am withdrawing from many email lists. Even if I support the cause, I don't need mail about it all the time.

I have filters set up in my email, so much incoming stuff gets directed away from my inbox to subject folders, which I can go through when I have time and inclination.

I unsubscribe from mailing lists that don't send me anything useful or interesting, including the vast majority of political/interest group lists because the content is so overwhelmingly fund-raising appeals.

I use the Internet both for my work and for enjoyment and news, and what interests me is actual content, not 140-word blurbs.

By far the best thing about the Internet for me is the ability immediately to go look up some piece of information or answer a question that pops into my mind on any subject.  Near-instant gratification of that curiosity itch.

As if -- as the town was one of the few we saw that did not ban traffic in the town square, a lovely medieval place turned into a parking lot.  And cars and motorcycles revved around and around constantly.  It was hard to hear a thing.

The goal of the industry was to move us, in a very short time, into (this may already be an outdated term) a virtual world where everything significant in our lives was mediated by electronic telecommunications, if not entirely constructed within the circuitry. The coffee shop idea is great, because it means someone remembers what a real coffee shop was. Someone remembers that it is possible (and not always frightening, embarrassing, or offensive) to simply speak to another human being rather than texting, e-mailing, or posting on their social web page.

The idea of trying to revive interpersonal communication outside "the network" is very important. For one thing, any real progressive political progress requires it.

The drawback is that this is a trendy statement by some cafes, and the vast funds available to turn their idea into the laughing stock of the world is sitting in corporate accounts just waiting to be released. I'm all for anyone wanting to fight the beast; but remember, the beast is big, rich, and dangerous to toy with.

It is painful to experience media without filters, but also incredibly exciting and mind expanding. Like being at the premier of the Rite of Spring and assimilating a new way of musical thinking? Usually people like harmonies and will fight for them - in politics it is ideology. Professional associations also. But whatever the filter, communication has opened up, speeded up, and come in close so much that it has become another tower of Babel where communication does not really communicate.

I think that Jaron Lanier's book "You Are Not a Gadget" makes a lot of valid observations about places where the internet definitely isn't meeting expectations, and the the sorts of dangers that could result if the current state of things becomes the "new normal".

A few weeks ago I decided to mosey over to a local Manhattan coffee shop for an afternoon cappuccino.

After placing my order I sat down at a table and pulled out my Amazon Kindle.

I barely made it a sentence into the e-book I was reading before an employee of the coffee shop came by, stood over me and said, "Excuse me sir, but we don't allow computers in the coffee shop."

I looked up at him with an incredulous look and replied, "This isn't a computer, it's an e-book reader."

He then told me that the "device" in my hand had a screen and required batteries, so it was obviously "some variation of a computer." The coffee shop, I was told, did not allow the use of computers.

Annoyed with this distinction, I peppered the employee with questions on why reading on paper was more acceptable than reading on a screen. Flustered and confused by the existential debate he had been dragged into, the employee resolutely said, "Look, no computers in the coffee shop."

I was dragged into a similar dispute at a sandwich shop in Brooklyn, this time while reading and taking notes on my iPad. The employee there said no computers were allowed between noon and 3 p.m. After another lengthy defense of e-readers and screens, I lost, again, and sat there resentfully picking at my sandwich.

For instance, if they're able to copy FedEx, UPS, or eBay e-mails, and include a brilliantly disguised malware link, that could lead to a world of hurt for even the experienced computer user if the spam message arrives when they're expecting (looking for) an e-mail from the actual shipping company.