Readers of these posts will perhaps tire of my return to a familiar issue: the effects of internet use and electronic reading on the ways people think and learn. Well, take it from someone as respected as New York Times columnist David Brooks; the evidence indicates that there are real effects on reading patterns, learning habits, and communication skills from the hours many of us spend on the internet. Such effects are worthy of our reflection. For example, Brooks observes, “The Internet culture may produce better conversationalists, but the literary culture still produces better students.”