At best, we'd have to be certain that he actually expected people to respect him more because he didn't have access to Google or Wikipedia, which I'm not prepared to grant. To me it looks like a joke that fell flat, and an actual reinforcement of my expectations, rather than a reversal. I certainly never thought for a second that I should have more respect for someone who didn't use Google in school.
Then I think I know JPS better than you do
As you can see from his next quote, he fully thinks that his lack of google access in school made his schooling "much more difficult" and the implication that such adversity should garner respect in his mind is quite clear to me.
Still we had no Google and Wiki to use back then, kids today rely on it. and Thus we had a much more difficult schooling experience, today kids ask it everything, and depend on it.
That's my point.
I think the assertion that you had a "much more difficult schooling experience" is lacking in any proof. I suppose it was harder to open an encyclopedia than a wikipedia link, but only by a few seconds. Perhaps because access to knowledge was slower, you got less accomplished in school, but that doesn't automatically make it harder.
Having access to the internet at all times has also shifted the focus of schooling. Instead of needing to memorize facts as you did, all that information is readily available, so now the focus can be on the application of those facts, which can be harder than simple memorization, and is arguably more useful.