&gt; I don&#x27;t think the telephone has ever been as important as access to the internet<p>Maybe you&#x27;re thinking from some perspective I&#x27;m not seeing, but this sounds odd to me.<p>Prior to the telephone, geographically separated people were days, weeks, or months apart when communicating with letters.   The change from that to being to call people on a whim must have been life changing.