The net effect is that people and goods need a much shorter time to reach any far-away destination. In the 16th century, Magellan's ship needed two years to sail around the globe. In the 19th century, Jules Verne gave a detailed account of how to travel around the world in 80 days. In 1945, a plane could do this trip in two weeks. Present-day supersonic planes need less than a day.
Satellites circle the planet in one hour.
In Magellan's time, only precious, small volume goods, such as spices, china, and jewellery, were transported over large distances. The duration and risks of the travel were simply too large. Presently, we find it normal to get most of our oil, coal, ore, and other raw materials from thousands of miles away. Giant container ships, freight trains and highways have made it economical to continuously move billions of tons around the world. Not only matter, but energy is distributed more and more speedily.