1. No more staring at signs and menus in confusion. Snap a picture with Google translate and viola.
2. Related to #1, no more getting lost using public transit or walking because you can't read street signs. Google Maps with walking directions, transit directions was a LIFE-CHANGER.
3. No more being LIMITED to phrases in your phrasebook. Again, Google translate.
4. No more worries about being taken advantage of by local taxis or figuring out local taxi customs. Uber and Uber clones.
5. No more getting trapped at tourist trap restaurants or overpriced "officially" reviewed restaurants. Google search again.
6. Waze can help you navigate to the most secluded spots, even when the local signs become sparse.
I could keep going...
Actually, it's amazing how much it was Google and local clones of Uber. Yelp and Uber aren't as popular in the countries we visited as I expected.
Honestly it was almost a little too easy, in some ways I didn't feel like I was in a foreign land... I felt at total ease in any neighborhood, because even if no taxis were around, just hail a ride.
Rented a car multiple times and drove around because Waze was great everywhere if Google Maps broke down.
Overall I LOVED that technology has made experiencing a foreign country almost trivially easy.
Technology absolutely lowers many barriers to travel.
The difference between this trip and my last trip was unbelievable.
...and then you can complain on FB how many people are on that supposedly "secluded" spot. Surprise: technological innovation applies to them as well.
Indeed, technology removes many bottlenecks...but as we should know here on HN, all that ever did was expose other bottlenecks elsewhere in the pipeline - and physical scarcity is a far harder bottleneck than knowledge imbalance.
Each of us seeks different things in their free time. I for example usually don't turn on phone for days during travelling.
Likewise for planning each and every meal via reviews.
Google translate might mean that you don't even try to learn the basics of a local language.
The reason I'd agree with your timeline is one thing you did not mention -- wealth explosion. Purely recreational international travel is and always has been relatively expensive.
Also XIX c. passports were without biometry (ie without photography of the holder).