The greatest breakthrough since fire or just more technology?The spread of the Internet, say some pundits, is the most transforming technological event since the capture of fire: “It's bigger than Gutenberg.” Nobody knows where it will lead, but everything will be different. Others are not convinced, arguing that it's just another technological advance like the telephone, radio, or television and will be incorporated into our lives just as they were. One result is that the world already has an Internet Addiction Support Group.

The debate on whether the Internet might transform medicine is taken …