I personally have never booked anything on a smartphone, and I'm content and perfectly well connected in 2022 in a first world country.
I book things in a browser when I need to book something online, and that is generally on a laptop. It's no less convenient.
In fact, I don't even have a mobile data plan, I just use WiFi. I prepay $10 every 6mo for voice calls, everything else can wait til I have WiFi.
I'm not a surgeon and taking calls while I'm driving isn't going to help anyone in any way that can't wait half an hour.
Phones are overrated, full of ads and casinos, and not as revolutionary as we often suggest.
The average person loses more time and money than they gain by having a mobile phone, I bet.
I do own a car, and it can go anywhere, carrying many people and goods very quickly and cheaply with no reservation or app required. It's also available in the event of natural disaster when all the rentals vanish. My family woke up to an earthquake that led to a tsunami warning at midnight in 2016, and there are fires and other problems one can foresee...
I do appreciate subway systems and find them very convenient for moving myself around, but dislike the idea of hiring someone else's machine every time I need to purchase groceries for a family or take 3 boxes of hardware to some place...
I think we may in some respects be regressing.
So, it's safe to assume GP meant modern life with modern comforts, rather than "my oxygen is only available with an iCloud subscription".