Whatever happened to the decentralized ideal of ad-hoc networks? Shouldn't we expect a much bigger payoff and a much better world if investments actually made t

Whatever happened to the decentralized ideal of ad-hoc networks? Shouldn't we expect a much bigger payoff and a much better world if investments actually made the real world better for the consumer? What if VR made the wearer smarter, stronger, nicer, wiser? Is that really so hard to imagine, given that it's the bare minimum we expect from technology today?