Ah, the prerogative of youth: assuming that because you don't understand something, it must be simple. And that anybody who thinks otherwise is just a fool.
The solution I proposed was perhaps flippant, but not ill-thought out.
I stand by my claim that the fundamental problem that the author has is not with the Internet, it's with their willpower.
I read the same article as you many years ago when it was first published.
My conclusion, however, was different from yours. You seem to have stopped at "manipulate your environment to change how you behave." I preferred the conclusion, "manipulate your environment to change how you think." When I have distraction problems with the Internet I'll restructure my environment to provide gratification in different ways. If Internet browsing is rewarding to me to the point where it causes a distraction it now becomes an effective reward mechanism. I can make a schedule wherein a certain amount of work is rewarded with a small amount of Hacker News.
Moreover, the entire Internet isn't to blame for this person's problem, only a certain set of behavior on the Internet. They describe how slower or less rich internet didn't present a distraction. Why not cap their connection speed or disable images, javascript, and sound?
I see many options and "get rid of the Internet" seems the most naive and harmful in this case.
Actually, I think your "solution" was both flippant and ill-thought out.
"Just read a book" isn't a solution at all. It doesn't work, and it displays willful ignorance of how willpower works.
I'm glad to see you have now responded with some more nuanced notions, but your arrogant "duh, he's doing it wrong" tone still grates. In particular, you assume that he couldn't possibly have thought about the issues you raise. Maybe if you started with the assumption that he has considered them you'd get someplace more interesting.
TFA is basically telling us that the route to success in life is to turn off one's home internet service so he or she could live as Americans did in 1985; purporting that way of life to be superior in some way because the occupations of time used several physical items instead of just a computing device.
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If you want to read a book, you take a book, open it, and begin reading.
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If you're still having trouble reading it, maybe you don't actually want to read it as much as you are telling yourself you do. Be honest with yourself, listen to yourself, and don't force yourself to be something you're not. If you can't find some psychological lever to help you begin learning to code, or learn French, or to stop playing WOW - something important in your life which makes you want to do this - maybe you should step back and reexamine your life and priorities.
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Reading a book shouldn't drain one's willpower; if it is you're doing it wrong.
TFA is not telling us that. He's just saying he's trying an experiment. And he's not saying that the physical items are superior. He talks about watching video and doing email and posting to blogs, so he's obviously ok with virtual things.
Also, it sounds like he really does want to do the book reading, in that's what he went and did once he was less distracted. And then tried an experiment to see how he could bring back more of that.
Also, your "it's just that simple" line is contradicted by a lot of research on willpower. (Which, hint hint, I linked.) Maybe it really works that way for you, in which case: bravo, you magnificent alien. But it doesn't work that way for most people, including the the author of the initial article.
Some books are easy books. Other books are hard, but worth the work. Some things are quick and easy gratification, but other only pay off after a while. For humans, at least, one has to set aside the former if you want to pursue the latter.
"The prerogative of youth" rings somewhat ageist to me when people of all ages express similar foolish ideas. Let's not indict youth or overlook the views of the 'more experienced' who still harbor a fundamental misunderstanding of people.
I agree that there are fools of all ages. But I think confusing "at first blush X seems obvious to me" with "duh, X is totally obvious, fool" is something that most people get over.
Age may not bring wisdom, but it does mean more experience. In this case, the experience of thinking that something is utterly simple, having your ass handed to you, and being forced to recognize that apparently simple things are often fiendishly subtle.
Actually, willpower is a limited resource:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_control#As_a_limited_resou...
The people who make the best use of it shape their environments to avoid temptation:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/18/090518fa_fact_...
Exactly as this person did.