I'm addicted to email, but other than that, there are practical things - being able to buy a book on the internet that you can't find in your local bookshop. This could be a lifeline if you live further from the sources.
I can find every jacket under the sun that I like. But I cannot find trousers cut the way I want them. They're all really tight at the bottom. Nobody does a boot cut on a trouser leg. It drives me crazy.
Beslan, where the Russian authorities stopped live coverage of the school being stormed, was an illustration of the progress we still have to make.