That's a good thing for me! That's what great sci-fi is all about -- imagining how technology transforms society. Most D&D did a bad job of it, but the potential was there and it could be fun to explore.
How does 4E handle this -- because it seems to me, and correct me if I'm wrong -- that spells only work in a certain way in the heat of combat, and then are either undefined or don't work at all outside of combat, which still leaves the DMs and players at loss to figure out how that fits into worldbuilding.