> In the past we thought that the collective human knowledge available via the Internet will allow everyone to learn. I think it is fair to say that it didn't change much in the grand scheme of things.

Just an anecdote of course, but for me having access to the internet changed my life. I found a community I couldn't find locally (programming) as I'm from a rural place, and most of my employments since then have, in one way or another, come from people finding me on the internet. I'm surely not the only one who managed to climb the class ladder mostly because of the internet.