The biggest gathering...

I recently read a story on the internet that stated that there are now more than 694 million online users above the age of 15. This it said was more than 14% of the population in this group. An incredible number. Barely 10 years back this would not even be about a 10th of this number and in another 10 having an online presence would probably be as obvious as having an electricity connection is now. The report did mention a few interesting facts about this data. It said, today, the online audience in the US represents less than a quarter of Internet users across the globe, versus 10 years ago when it accounted for two-thirds of the global audience. According to the report, the United States still had the single largest Internet audience, of 152 million users, followed by China with 72 million. Third on the list was Japan with 52 million users, followed by Germany (32 million) and Britain (30 million). In sixth place was South Korea (24.6 million) followed by France (23.9 million), Canada (19 million), Italy 16.8 million and India (16.7 million). Rounding out the top 15 countries were Brazil (13.2 million), Spain (12.5 million), Netherlands (11 million), Russia (10.8 million) and Australia (9.7 million). Further, you might find it interesting to know that in terms on most time spent online, Israel led the list, with the average user spending 57.5 hours online during the month -- twice as much time compared to the average person in the United States.
Of course one of the reasons fuelling the growth of the internet is the sheer amount of information being available. There is information on just about every conceivable topic out there. Most of it available for free, though some of the more specialized one available at a cost. With the maturing of the internet information model, more and more companies who use to offer purely free information are now offering premium access to specific information at a cost. Another reason that could be fuelling this growth of the internet is that access to internet is now not only possible through the PC or the traditional computer but through a number of other client devices, like the cell phone, pda, etc. This puts the convenience of information anywhere and everywhere. I don’t think the time is far away when you would be uniquely identified by your e-mail name instead of the name and your personal website url would be just as important as your physical address. When a new being is born, his/her e-mail and cyber-identity would be decided and registered at the local birth&death office before a name is decided for him/her. Ok, I am joking on this one, but don’t be surprised if something similar happens in your lifetime.