Sounds to me, like "the internet" (whatever this personificated entity might be) wasn't the writers real problem. Maybe he was asking the wrong questions in the first place. Maybe I am just reading too much into this. I don't know.

The strangest part was, when he wrote about is niece. Why didn't he talk to her in that year - do her parents not have a landline/mobile phone? What is the difference between the described strenuous phone-call and a skype-call?

Sorry, but I just didn't buy this part. It did not get me. His niece was right. If he would have wanted to talk to her, he would have found a way. And there are other things, I really didn't get:

If these special letters (between all the rest) would have really meant that much to him, he would have found a way to answer them.

But it just feels like, he really did not know himself before, during or after this sabattical. And he does not know himself (or his [perceived] problem) any better. Sorry to judge that hard, but this "journalistic" piece was really saddening me.

Sorry, but I take for granted the ability to be able to read some hundred pages of literature. Even Homer. Or Foucault.

Sorry, call me old fashioned, but I take for granted, that you listen when talking with someone.

And things like this.