Convenience gives. It’s hard to get 5 or six people consistently together at the same time and place. Removing the place makes it more accessible even if objectively worse. I am working on a tabletop thing in python with particle effects and other little tidbits so you can have some visuals that are browser and company independent.
No global recovery from 2008. A case could be made for no recovery from the .com bust but that’s a bit more nebulous. We have not returned to the 08 baseline.