Our computers and mobile devices do wonderful things for us. But they also impose a burden, making it harder for us to focus, do our best work, build strong relationships, and find the depth and fulfillment we crave. How to solve this problem? "Hamlet's BlackBerry" argues that we just need a new way of thinking, an everyday philosophy for life with screens. William Powers sets out to solve what he calls the conundrum of connectedness. Reaching into the past-using his own life as laboratory and object lesson-he draws on some of history's most brilliant thinkers, from Plato to Shakespeare to Thoreau, to demonstrate that digital connectedness serves us best when it's balanced by its opposite, "disconnectedness." Lively, original, and entertaining, "Hamlet's BlackBerry" will challenge you to rethink your digital life.

Prologue: the room / Part I. What larks?: the conundrum of the connected life. Busy, very busy: in a digital world, where's the depth? -- Hello, Mother: the magic of screens -- Gone overboard: falling out with the connected life -- Solutions that aren't: the trouble with not really meaning it / Part II. Beyond the crowd: teachings of the seven philosophers of screens. Walking to heaven: Plato discovers distance -- The spa of the mind: Seneca on inner space -- Little mirrors: Gutenberg and the business of inwardness -- Hamlet's BlackBerry: Shakespeare on the beauty of old tools -- Inventing your life: Ben Franklin on positive rituals -- The Walden zone: Thoreau on making the home a refuge -- A cooler self: McLuhan and the thermostat of happiness / Part III. In search of depth: ideas in practice. Not so busy: practical philosophies for every day -- Disconnectopia: the Internet Sabbath / Afterword: back to the room.