I don't quite get it. Being able to transmit images is "novel" but being able to query more information that has ever been available before in the history of th

I don't quite get it. Being able to transmit images is "novel" but being able to query more information that has ever been available before in the history of the human race is not? You should really separate the application of the technology from the technology itself. Your last sentence can be said the exact same way about the telephone "It provides some social value and exists for that reason" but that is clearly a ridiculous statement to make about the telephone.