Alan Cairns isn’t retired from my iPod! I listen to him often. I’ve learned much from that man and am thankful for him.
I really get a kick knowing that mostly God-hating reprobates built the internet and run the silicon valley companies, yet the Lord has used their efforts to spread His Word in a powerful way around the globe. Those men are doing what they want with their lives in history, but God is in full control and sovereign over history.
Unless his church had purchased radio or television time, prior to the net I would have had almost zero opportunity to hear a man like Alan Cairns, let alone a Conrad Mbewe, the Baptist from Zambia, Africa. I could name dozens of men from around the world whose online ministries have impacted my life, and by extension the lives of my family. Some of those men are famous, but just as many are toiling away for the Lord in relative obscurity. Some of the men I listen to most are now long retired or even dead, yet via the net sermons preached decades ago can be accessed for free within seconds, even from my cell phone.
Because of the internet I now realize I have more in common with grace believing Christians from different states, nations, and even centuries than I do with the lost couple next door.
I say the same thing; I work part time at Walmart (middle of southern Indiana) and in the year 2012, I have more in common with the African Bushman (who truely is a believer and follower of Jesus Christ) than I do some of the people that walk through the door to our “supercenter” and that I help with their purchases (of items that most don’t really even need). It doesn’t matter poor, rich, have you a changed heart by God through Jesus??
I wouldn't call Silicon Valley all bad ... at least some of the technology is useful, and like you said, it is a blessing to get access to all these wonderful preachers and teachers of God's Word.