I hate this "low innovation" meme. Seriously? Imaginary example, but real tech: Suppose I remember the first half of an Irish reel I heard somewhere, but can'

I hate this "low innovation" meme. Seriously? Imaginary example, but real tech: Suppose I remember the first half of an Irish reel I heard somewhere, but can't remember the name or where I heard it. In 1980, trying to track it down would involve months (maybe years) of asking every musician I met if they knew it, hunting through obscure books of music, and if I found a good solid lead, perhaps an expensive international phone call to order a recording of it from Ireland. Today? I could play the tune into an app on my phone and within seconds know its name, have multiple different sources for downloading (free) sheet music, and in another couple of minutes have purchased and downloaded multiple professional recordings of it. Two things about this: 1) It's a net negative to GDP. Before I would have spent lots of money on a phone call, a full album, and overseas shipping, now it costs me $1 to get the one track I want. My personal consumer surplus from the new arrangement is really impressive, but the money and time I save doesn't get calculated into the economic figures these people are looking at. 2) The benefit is mostly to the long tail. You've always been able to easily buy Top 40 albums pretty much wherever you were. But now buying any genre you can imagine is easier than buying Top 40 was 32 years ago.