why distance is dead

It struck me the other day. I had lunch with a London commuter who lives around Norwhich, about 1 1/2 north of London on the train from Liverpool Street. What was his closest international airport (excluding Stansted of course) : not LHR, but Schipol !! Shows you that networks and flows have always replaced distance -and this, in contrary to what I usually demonstrate, is not a contemporary phenomenon only ! At all times, and because of the constraints of physical geography, accessibility has superseded distance : what London commuter flies from Schipol.