I’m really not comfortable with people telling me how the Internet is changing lives when there is no measurable observation.
I have some good measurements. For over 25 years I have had guests visiting me in Tokyo and staying in my home. Tokyo has no straight lines or corners to the streets (except in one dense business area). The rest of the city is as chaotic as a Moroccan suk or Mumbai.
Except that it has an infinitely complex subway system and impossible bus system that makes London look like a 3 year old’s puzzle. It is all high-tech with glitz and trains that run 2 minutes apart on tight published schedules.
For 25 years I have had to give the 80+ guests a folder of maps, travel brochures and guidebooks for everything. So they can get around Tokyo and find things they want to do.
It usually took 3 or 4 days before my friends were confident enough to find their way home. Some never got that confidence in a week.
Starting two years ago, that was over. Now all the guests arrive with their smart phones and can figure Tokyo out right away. My three granddaughters arrived late on a Sunday night, and Monday night they walked home on two different routes that were complex. With their phones and websites they planned every day by themselves with no help. The same with the next guest who did it all by himself. Every day.
Now that is what the Internet can really do. Make a truly complex and inaccessible problem in the real world… totally accessible. Quickly.