I don't have any hard numbers for you, but it feels as if it's improved by a lot.
I had switched away from Atom precisely because of the speed issue, but switched back to it a number of months back and I haven't noticed any performance problems.
Indeed, would the French revolution have even happened without all the bad press the royal family got from Marie Antoinette's tweets and the subsequent flashmob at La Bastille? And the American revolution's well-attended "Boston Tea Party" Facebook event?
It might not have happened if the French government used a modern (2012) system of surveillance utilizing both technology and social networks; filled labor camps with dissenting individuals and their entire respective families; and regularly executed anyone attempting to escape. France __never__ got as bad as North Korea is today.
The author did focus too much on the enabling power of the WWW, but don't dismiss the plight of the North Korean people because of his mistake(s).
I'm from New Brunswick, currently living in Moncton, and I'm really surprised you mentioned New Brunswick, and then called it exotic! But it is indeed all relative.
Also Plex for books (https://www.passagebooks.com/) but that has a much bigger scope.