I guess you'd lose human interaction in that instance, but I've found that I've gained in certain areas. If I'm puttering around on the internet and find something of interest, I can blip it to several of my friends. We can chat about it in emails, posts, or texts, and because we have a record of the conversation, it doesn't matter if everyone is around or awake at the same time. While my quick knowledge searches are now wiki-raids, I can discuss what I find there with any of my friends, wherever they are, at any time of day or night (without having to be up at all hours, day or night)...

A friend of mine is living in Thailand, and while I'll never be able to hang out with him for a day in Thailand (mostly because I don't want to *go* to Thailand), I'm able to know how his day went, or learn about some of the things he's experienced that day without having to wait for a letter or spend money on a phone call.

I guess I don't see it as a loss, but as a relocation.