Technology creating space and speeding up time

In the current day technology can alter the perception of time and space in our daily lives. This technology is often taken for granted. Transportation technology can allow for the expanding of perceivable space. Also the communication technology allows for a shortening in time. The novel Emma by Jane Austin reveals what our lives would be like without these technologies.
The transportation technology in Emma “restricts” the characters space compared to life present day. Most of the characters moved about by walking and on occasion took carriages to where they wanted to go. This means that the people their options of friends as well as places to go are limited to a walking distance, which is probably a mile radius from their quarters of living. What this means is the people they interact with on a daily basis are the same people. Comparing this with present day where the radius of interaction is around 50 miles rather than 1. You can leave your house in the morning and drive 20 miles to work, 15 miles to a friend’s house after work, and 35 miles back home without even thinking anything of it. If Emma or another character in the novel were to go to London, which is 16 miles from their town, it would be around a daylong trip getting there and then they would have to stay the night.
Having the limited space and thus the same people to interact with was a toll on Emma. She wanted to find a “perfect equal” to be her suitor. Her main problem was there were not enough men in the “pond” she lived in. Compared to the amount of fish in the “sea” we have due to the technology of transportation. Present day we have websites like eHarmony, which allows us to meet people online. This allows the ability to meet people globally. I believe Emma would have a more optimistic idea of marriage if she were able to use the present day technology to find a partner. Although she never is able to find a suitor for herself, she plays matchmaker for all the other people in town.
With our current communication technology time seems to move faster. For example when Harriet was very sick and Emma was trying to check up on her she did so through letters. She had emotional turmoil while waiting for the letters to go back and forth in a matter of days if not weeks between responses. In the current day we have technology where we can call and have not only responses but also a conversation in a matter of minutes. With the additional things that may occupy our time it seems to move at a much faster pace.
How does our world really differ from prior technology? For one the increase in transportation technology allows for the ability to interact with more people and more places. In a sense this is creating space. Additionally with our current communication technology time “speeds up” because the improvement in the speed of interacting with other people and places. The question is how will technology in the future allow for different lives compared to present day?

Citations
Austen, Jane. Emma London: Penguin, 1996. Print.