Was life simpler??

Yesterday I enjoyed a trip to Anne Hathaway's cottage and how simple it all seemed...I'm sure life was not 'simple' back then but compared to today's world we live in, I can not help but feel life back then was simpler.....I have danced today's tune to emails / mobile phone ringing / questions / demands / client wanting a service level agreement on an admin team and how quick they respond to an email....emails are a quick form of communication but surely and SLA in email is not the way forward? When did an SLA on life start? Have we all gone bonkers because of technology and expect far too much far too quickly? What happened to a considered response? Where is simple? Why don't people enjoy simple? Why do we have to be better / fast / quicker than the people before us, surely we have a lesson to learn from people from our history....time is precious why rush it?