I think it was SMBC that pointed out how in medieval times, aristocrats would pay huge[0] sums to have oil paintings of marriageable sons and daughters made and

I think it was SMBC that pointed out how in medieval times, aristocrats would pay huge[0] sums to have oil paintings of marriageable sons and daughters made and sent[1] to suitors, and so if we were to judge progress merely by the decline in time and cost of sending images of people to multiple recipients around the world, we'd all be relative "trillionaires" now. [0] as in, multiples of skilled labour annual salaries [1] the period equivalent of bubble wrap was probably packing in loose straw, so there's a miniscule but non-zero chance some of these aristos were asking each other to "plz send streweds"?