First, they imagine our information age to be unprecedented, but information explosions and the utopian and apocalyptic pronouncements that accompany them are an old concern.
I'm glad that the author points out that claims of Utopia and Apocalypses have always been around. We only here about them more now because of our connected media.
“You are right,” Nietzsche replied, “our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts.” Under the sway of the machine, writes the German media scholar Friedrich A. Kittler , Nietzsche’s prose “changed from arguments to aphorisms, from thoughts to puns, from rhetoric to telegram style.”
I agree to a degree. While you don't have to think as much before putting your thoughts down, you can also edit what you have written and put thoughts to paper before they disappear. For me, electronic screens and reading are where I start to lose focus sometimes, but never with a printed book (unless its a textbook). This is why I don't like E-Readers, they may store hundreds of books and stories, but they'll never replicate the magic of a printed book because I simply don't look at a screen the same way I look at a solid, paper page.
Know-how and know-what is being supplemented with know-where (the understanding of where to find knowledge needed).
This seems like the obvious progression of knowledge. After all, a human can only hold so much data in their head. Though the amount may be different for everyone, it is easier to remember the title of a book rather than every word or plot point.