Peer-to-peer networks still rule. The heart of the internet, the very reason it was created, is to share resources. Gnutella is a "pure" peer-to-peer network and my current app of choice is FrostWire.
Many internet users have little or no idea about the workings of Usenet or IRC. The newsgroups, as they are commonly referred to, are a resource for nearly everything under the moon. Usenet pre-dates the "web" and is the result of real people networking, sharing their interests for better or worse, much like the old BBS (Bulletin Board System). Meanwhile web surfing is little more than a highway cluttered with billboards and advertising. The web has been redeemed slightly by the popularity of blogging, eBay and MySpace because it brings real people, again for better or worse, back into the frame.
When I was growing up people talked about AI (Artificial Intelligence) like it was some big scary thing and that thought spawned movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Terminator and Matrix, just to name a few. However what was/is not Sci-Fi but similar is IA (Intelligence Amplification) where a person networked to millions of computers and the resources they contain has increased power. Knowledge equals Power in the information age.
File sharing is a by-product of this IA so now the music, movie and software industries need to develop a new business model, NOT impede the progress of peer-to-peer networking.
I say, learn to use the internet, not just surf the web or e-mail your friends, there is a whole world outside your neighborhood.