How much information is in circulation on
the internet (in gigabytes)?
At 487bn gigabytes
(GB), if the world's rapidly expanding digital content were printed and bound
into books it would form a stack that would stretch from Earth to Pluto 10
times.
Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, the world’s largest index of the Internet, estimated the size at roughly 5 million terabytes of data. That’s over 5 billion gigabytes of data, or 5 trillion megabytes.
What proportion of
the world’s population can now go online?
WORLD INTERNET USAGE AND
POPULATION STATISTICS
December 31, 2011 |
||||||
World Regions
|
Population
( 2011 Est.) |
Internet Users
Dec. 31, 2000 |
Internet Users
Latest Data |
Penetration
(% Population) |
Growth
2000-2011 |
Users %
of Table |
1,037,524,058
|
4,514,400
|
139,875,242
|
13.5
%
|
2,988.4
%
|
6.2 %
|
|
3,879,740,877
|
114,304,000
|
1,016,799,076
|
26.2
%
|
789.6
%
|
44.8
%
|
|
816,426,346
|
105,096,093
|
500,723,686
|
61.3
%
|
376.4
%
|
22.1
%
|
|
216,258,843
|
3,284,800
|
77,020,995
|
35.6
%
|
2,244.8
%
|
3.4 %
|
|
347,394,870
|
108,096,800
|
273,067,546
|
78.6
%
|
152.6
%
|
12.0
%
|
|
597,283,165
|
18,068,919
|
235,819,740
|
39.5
%
|
1,205.1
%
|
10.4
%
|
|
35,426,995
|
7,620,480
|
23,927,457
|
67.5
%
|
214.0
%
|
1.1 %
|
|
6,930,055,154
|
360,985,492
|
2,267,233,742
|
32.7
%
|
528.1
%
|
100.0
%
|
|
The number of
people who could access the internet in 1995?
DATE
|
NUMBER OF USERS
|
% WORLD
POPULATION |
December, 1995
|
16 millions
|
0.4 %
|
The number of
people who can access the internet in today?
Number of Users-2,280 millions
Mar, 2012
Nature of information
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1704424/mobile-lifestyle-changing-nature-information
A lot more
information is circulating over the internet as everyone can post some form of
information online. The nature of that information may vary as people have
learnt to trust sites like Wikipedia however, individuals are allowed to change
that information meaning someone else may be taking in the wrong information.
Communication
The internet has changed the way we communicate from letters, phone calls, post cards and face to face into a more digital way of communicating. This is due to applications such as ‘Skype’ which allow us to visibly see people who may be on the other side of the Earth via webcam (video call). There has also been the development of social networking sites as well as instant messaging services which has allowed people to find, communicate and stay in touch with old friends an example of these would be ‘Face Book’ and ‘Windows Live Messenger’.
The internet has changed the way we communicate from letters, phone calls, post cards and face to face into a more digital way of communicating. This is due to applications such as ‘Skype’ which allow us to visibly see people who may be on the other side of the Earth via webcam (video call). There has also been the development of social networking sites as well as instant messaging services which has allowed people to find, communicate and stay in touch with old friends an example of these would be ‘Face Book’ and ‘Windows Live Messenger’.
"A lot of people now communicate
through texts. Now, thanks to Skype, you can have video chats over the internet
with. Social Networking has contributed a lot to this change."
Privacy
Privacy is a very important aspect of being online. Many people
want and need their privacy; this has been enabled due to social networking
sites allowing the user to choose settings to suit themselves. Social
networking sites such as ‘Twitter’ and ‘Face Book’ allow you to have your
privacy by letting you choose settings that make your profile private or
undiscoverable.
I think the internet has given provided younger people with more opportunities
and jobs as it is the younger generation who are more comfortable with the new
technology. However, it has also made some people lazy and very reliant of the internet
as they may have become addicted.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Kids-Internet-Safety---Protecting-Your-Kids-in-a-Changing-World&id=4660019
Business
"No matter what your business is, it is difficult to succeed today without internet marketing."
http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/how-has-internet-changed-business
"It’s hardly surprising that the increasingly tasteless
nature of such self-advertisements have resulted in social networking sites
becoming infested with anonymous sexual predators and pedophiles." Andrew Keen also criticizes the ability of
the Internet to promote social harms such as gambling and pornography.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cult_of_the_Amateur
"No matter what your business is, it is difficult to succeed today without internet marketing."
http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/how-has-internet-changed-business
Culture
Andre keen sees "cultural standards and moral
values" as "at stake" due to new media innovations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cult_of_the_Amateur
The
internet has allowed the copyright and patents to be broken in several ways by
many from films to music. The internet has allowed millions of people to illegally
download films and music which has lead to broadband providers banning sites
which break the copyright law. Virgin and Sky have recently banned Pirate Bay.
