The internet and social media has changed everything. WalMart put many local B&M retailers out of business. Now Amazon is hurting WalMart. The people I grew up around smoked one pipe all day long filled with the same blend until it burnt out. Toss it in the trash can, buy another. I remember my neighbor smoked one of those Carey Magic Inch pipes. Threw away that magic inch filter promptly. I'm not sure he removed his pipe when he took a shower.
There's something to be said about "ignorance is bliss". If you lived in a smaller, rural area, your pipe source was the grocery, pharmacy or gas station in all likelihood. Your choices were Sir Walter Raleigh, Carter Hall and perhaps a couple of others. I'd never seen a dedicated tobacco shop until I was around 24 years old and encountered one in a mall in Schaumburg, IL.
Now, within a few minutes, I can access hundreds if not thousands of pipe tobacco blends and a near equal number of pipe choices, make my choices, enter a credit card number and in a few days a package shows up.
Of course pipe smoking has changed. Unfortunately, I think the changes going on currently and into the future may not be for the better.