It’s hard to imagine a time before the internet – especially if you grew up during the dot-com bubble – but the internet as we know it only really took off over the last few decades. World users of the internet have increased dramatically over the last decade: in 2000, there were as little 7% of people in the world using the internet. When you compare that to the 40% of people in the world who now use the internet on a regular basis, that’s a big jump!
This largely coincides with improvements in internet speed and greater connection technology. Today, with the very best Google Fibre connection, you can download a feature film in mere seconds. With ARPANET – the internet’s progenitor – this would take you a week! The internet has come a long way since 1969, and following this infographic from MCS Test Equipment, you can see how internet access has completely changed with time.
It’s not surprising that world internet users increased rapidly, as soon as domestic broadband was released, so will internet users continue to surge with further technological breakthroughs? We’re only seeing a fraction of the internet’s possibilities today – it’s still in relative infancy, even though it is celebrating its 45th year! Let’s look forward to how the internet will change and improve over the next decade.