Nicholas Carr is a technophobe, bordering on Luddite, and has been for as long as I have been reading him. It's not just this focus - the alleged harm of modern technology to the way we think - but he also attacked the idea that IT could ever be a sustainable advantage to businesses (Does IT Matter / IT Doesn't Matter). He seems to try to turn everything he reads against technological change for the sake of fighting technological change itself, rather than because of a unifying reason.
"Professional troll" is more appropriate - I think he genuinely knows what kind of reaction his writing will provoke, and goes straight for the jugular.
The important thing is that he is making money selling books about his opinions. Interestingly many classic writers (think Jonathan Swift) were professional trolls in their time. Writing something that elicits strong emotions and opinions guarantees that people will talk about it, meaning more publicity for the book.
