INFOGRAPHIC: The Internet - From Research Tool to Way of Life

Each and every day, more than 1.6 billion people use the World Wide Web. This number is astounding, because it has only been 30 years since the Internet first came online. Back then, the Internet was primarily used by the government, military, and a handful of academic researchers. This infographic, created by WhoIsHostingThis, lays out the history of the Internet, from its beginning days as a research tool to today’s reliance on the Internet by people around the world.


It took almost 130 years for the automobile industry to sell a billion cars. After 95 years of growing popularity, the much-loved television has sold just under 1.5 billion television sets. By way of contrast, the Internet has reached 2.7 billion people, and many of them use the Internet for more than three hours at a time and on multiple devices!


The Internet has exploded from 130 websites in 1993 to 634 million websites in 2012. These web sites are owned by all walks of life, from businesses to soccer moms blogging about their days. It’s difficult to understand the rapid growth the Internet has experienced, because we are accustomed to it being there.


The Internet has become a part of our daily lives. We shop on the Internet, we conduct research on the Internet, and we play games on the Internet. We can also use the Internet to send a letter across the globe, right after we order our pizza for dinner…using the Internet! What began as a way for researchers to compare notes almost 30 years ago is now a part of daily life for billions of people, and the number is still growing.

Source: Who Is Hosting This.com