Depends on your "resources of personality". Maybe it's my ADHD or maybe just weakness of character, but I need to place an extra barrier between myself and distraction that I can't simply dismiss with a mouse click.
Ah, well, in that case what you're getting out of older technology is "externally imposed self-control". Douglas Adams' publisher famously locked him in a hotel room because he was such a chronic procrastinator. I can definitely relate!