Maureen Dowd gets closer to discussing "reading" vs "screening" in terms of paper reading and Kindles and iPhones and screens

A future comment might be: "Well done, Maureen, for pointing out the uncomfortable reality of our techno-gadget addiction. As you most astutely point out in your column today about reading versus screening, we will be hearing about this more and more in the future.

While, in many ways screens and e-readers have brought tremendous convenience to our lives they are not without negative side affects that health professionals and clinicians have been reporting and discussing for some time now.

It is interesting that for every negative story about techno-gadgets in general and e-readers in particular, the industry uses its not inconsiderable power over news agencies to send out damage control stories that would put BP to shame. I predict that this column today about screening on screens compared to reading on paper will be followed by just such stories by industry spin control "experts".