Sort of related to retail: what with email having reduced the amount of ordinary mail I send, I notice that I now buy most things on the internet and that in turn has provided courier companies (sometimes Royal Mail) with additional work, so in a way it is swings and roundabouts.
It is most definitely swings and roundabouts.
The question for society is what the effects on the fairground are, which companies or corporation do the changes benefit, what effects there on community and society.
I fear that the retail changes we see (and many embrace - I can get cheaper, easier, blah blah - it’s all about ME!) are visible effects of pure capitalism. Reduce costs, excise people, extract your business from the horrors of tax paying.
When retail has died, who pays for the things that local retailer tax paid for. Who pays for the employment that used to be there when we paid a reasonable price for goods. Who deals with the effects of loneliness that the lack of human contact creates.
Amazon don’t give a shit. They make money.