Well, the thing is, centralization is always more efficient than decentralization, so everything humans do tends to centralize unless specific measures are taken. Which "evil centralized power structures" will definitely ensure are not.
How are you measuring efficiency? If something is centralized and widely used, are you even capable of recognizing technological progress now defined by the centralizer?
By how much time/energy/effort it takes to deliver a particular service. Centralized solutions win, because a) they can exploit economies of scale, and b) they don't have the communication and coordination overhead fundamental to distributed solutions.
