My thoughts, exactly. Unfortunately, I think it's not simply that constant alerts steal attention, but also that dependence on computers is also training us to not pay attention. The computer will tell us the problem and how to solve it, no thought required, a lot of the time. Therefore, we need to be even more alert than we used to (have to be), in order to spot the rare occasion that the computer is wrong, and apply thought and common sense. Additionally (for me at least), controlling the quality of the computer tends to be less fulfilling and less exciting work than actually solving problems myself, meaning I don't care as much about it and am not as attentive to it.
