Here's another great piece from Slate that falls into the broad category of "The More Things Change..." and a cautionary tale about modern Chicken Littles running around telling us the sky is falling because we watch too much television or play too violent video games or don't read enough or whatever. Not that there aren't real dangers and risks and I think we should always take people's genuine fears seriously, but it's just same as it ever was.

"A respected Swiss scientist, Conrad Gessner, might have been the first to raise the alarm about the effects of information overload. In a landmark book, he described how the modern world overwhelmed people with data and that this overabundance was both "confusing and harmful" to the mind. The media now echo his concerns with reports on the unprecedented risks of living in an "always on" digital environment. It's worth noting that Gessner, for his part, never once used e-mail and was completely ignorant about computers. That's not because he was a technophobe but because he died in 1565. His warnings referred to the seemingly unmanageable flood of information unleashed by the printing press..."

The article goes on with a whirlwind tour of the History of Media from the invention of writing until today and is a really fun read:

http://www.slate.com/id/2244198/pagenum/all/