My reaction to your question might be telling:

  1. I dimly remember that The Shallows had something thoughtful to say about the topic;
  2. I pull out my kindle and search the full text of 443 books for "carr kindle";
  3. I wait 3 seconds;
  4. I re-read Carr's take and mull it over.

Perhaps not fundamentally different from looking it up in the index, but it certainly feels so.