[notpachet]

> just like when people thought novels were bad for people, or when writing would ruin our memories

In fairness, there are also lots of counterexamples where the long-term consequences of a new technology were not adequately foreseen, and ended up posing huge problems in the long run. So I don't think it's unreasonable for people to look skeptically on these sorts of tools.

[brookst]

Agree, but in general those unforeseen consequences differed from the moral panic at the time. Saying “this will have consequences and we should, IDK, know that” is different from prophesying specific dooms without evidence.