I had a very McLuhanish feeling about media and environments: that once we’ve shaped tools, in his words, they turn around and “reshape us.” Of course this is a great idea if the tools are really good and aimed squarely at the issues in question. But the other edge of the sword cuts as deep – that inadequate tools and environments still reshape our thinking in spite of their problems, in part, because we want paradigms to guide our goals.

Alan Kay, “The Early History of Smalltalk”