Changing nature of amateur radio

At one time, the only way we could talk across the world by amateur radio was by HF contacts. Things are changing.  

These days, there are many alternatives such as DMR, D-STAR and Echolink. Many use the internet as the backbone, whereas in the past we had to rely on HF propagation and the ionosphere. 

Even with a VHF or UHF transceivers worldwide contacts are possible. I remember being amazed that with a DMR portable sitting on the bookshelf DX from across the planet could be heard.