The Onion has an article, 48 Hour Internet OUtage Plunges Nation Into Productivity, that echoes some of the points John Caudwell of Phones4U made when he banned staff use of email:

Shortly after office workers found their web, e-mail, and instant-messaging capabilities disabled, reports of torrential productivity began to reach corporate offices nationwide. "My first thought was 'My God, this has to be some kind of mistake,'" said Prudential Insurance executive vice-president Shane Mullins of San Francisco. "My e-mail wasn't working. Nerve.com wasn't working. I eventually found out that the company web site wasn't working, either. But by that time, my inbox was filling up like you wouldn't believe." "My actual physical inbox," Mullins added. "It's this gray plastic thing on my desktop—the top of the desk I sit at."