Where would we be without forums/internet?

[Phil2008]

Ive been watching "The Virtual Revolution" and its made me think if the net was never invented, where would we be today.
1 Would computer hardware be as advanced as it is today.
2 Would highstreet prices be high for low qual items?
3 Would we have as much entertainment audio and video tech available to us?

 

[Phil2008]

3. probably more - Without internet, I would imagine other forms of entertainment such as cinema, TV, radio etc becoming more popular, resulting in more investment into those areas.

Some high end speakers you can only get from the net, like B.K.Electronics for subwoofers and XTZ for speakers. would these sort of companies never of existed without the net?