There is an ancient pact between tools and their users which says that tools should be used by their users, and not the other way around. Good tools should help their users accomplish a task by satisfying some pre-existing urge and then getting out of the way. Attention economies, at their most addictive, violate this pact. Like good medicine, good tools should appear briefly when you need them, and then disappear, leaving you free to get on with your life.

Instead of looking for tools to solve problems, look to solve problems with tools. It is a subtle but important distinction.