Alou thinks so. He has been able use Mosaic to track down professors at Cal Tech, University of Michigan, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and The Nobel Institute in Sweden. He was able to communicate with them by e-mail about their current research and how it relates to his research. For him, it has proved invaluable, and has allowed him to make some pretty wide-ranging connections. Books, restaurants, city maps, cultural events, technical associations, games, education, libraries, indexes, etc.
Some people see the 'net as a toy.
There is so much to see, so much to do, that one can't possibly do it all. Your time is valuable, use it wisely. If it didn't let me know.