Does the Internet Make You Dumber? (online.wsj.com)

Bad Title. It should be does the internet make you...oh look something shiny.

The idea that multitasking is bad for you is not new.

>In one experiment conducted at Cornell University, for example, half a class of students was allowed to use Internet-connected laptops during a lecture, while the other had to keep their computers shut. Those who browsed the Web performed much worse on a subsequent test of how well they retained the lecture's content.

What if half the class was allowed to read a book during a lecture and the other half was not? Would you expect the results to be any different?