Members of the Knights of Columbus Adult Education Committee, agonising nearly 80 years ago about the socially disruptive power of technology, would surely have had a thing or two to say about the BlackBerry.

These worthies, part of a Catholic fraternity in the US dedicated to self-help, were alert to the dark side of the supposed progress of their day. As recounted by Claude Fischer*, the committee posed some intriguing questions about the spread of new technology. For instance: "Does the telephone make men more active or more lazy?"