Only One Quarter of the Planet To Be Online By 2012 206
Stony Stevenson writes "Researchers are predicting that one quarter of the world's population will be connected to the internet within the next four years. According to the report by Jupiter Research, the total number of people online will climb to 1.8 billion by 2012, encompassing roughly 25 percent of the planet. The company sees the highest growth rates in areas such as China, Russia, India and Brazil. Overall, the number of users online is predicted to grow by 44 percent in the time period between 2007 and 2012." Is it just me or does that seem incredibly small?
It may be small... (Score:5, Insightful)
1.8 Billion with a B (Score:4, Insightful)
Seriously, it's just you.
Is it just me... (Score:5, Insightful)
... or do you not realize how poor most of the planet is?
It is small, but... (Score:3, Insightful)
Not small at all (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It may be small... (Score:5, Insightful)
IPv4 (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It may be small... (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously! Doesn't anyone read the news? Most of the world's population lives in abject poverty compared to western standards. All you need to is see that pic of the world at night from space - lights visible in the US, Europe, Japan and a few scattered major cities - everything else is dark.
Re:It may be small... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's just you... (Score:5, Insightful)
Having lived in what is effectively a third world country, South African, for about 15 years, one thing is painfully obvious when compared with life in a first world country. The vast majority of people have little to no access to electricity, let alone the internet!
It's very hard to understand this unless you witness it first hand - it's all to easy to think "but surely everyone needs to be on the internet?"
The reality is for most of humanity, the struggle to put food on the plate and shelter themselves is the main driving force in their daily lives.
I'm therefore suprised at how many people are online, not how few - completely the opposite reaction to the parent.
Re:It may be small... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Not small at all (Score:1, Insightful)
its only getting better here for the upper classes too.............
Re:It may be small... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It may be small... (Score:5, Insightful)
Try moving to a more abundant farming area, whose inhabitants look upon you as an outsider who is muscling in on their scarce resources.
Try moving from a rural existence, where your food comes from your labours, to the city, where you must buy your food with money. (Where unskilled labour is dirt cheap.
Try getting a passport without spending a large amount of money.
Try getting a visa to Europe or US if you come from Africa.
Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes.
Re:It may be small... (Score:4, Insightful)
How do you keep the lines of communications open against the opposition of either the local warlord or whoever represents legitimate - centralized - authority? It can shorten your life to be in possession of a radio. The mesh network has the potential to expose everyone who is part of the mesh.
Re:It may be small... (Score:4, Insightful)
You are right about the military being able to set up advanced communications in a war zone but I doubt those systems are meant to stay for very long. It is a noble goal, but there are goals that should be reached first. The Internet is a luxury, not a basic necessity. Once the basic necessities are taken care of in a place, only then can we consider helping them acquire luxuries.
Re:It may be small... (Score:3, Insightful)
>> What if we did get people without food and clean water online?
C134n H20 4 ch34p!!! G3+ h3r w3t and h341thy!!! Fa5+ 5h1ppi4g, 10w pr1c3z!!!
Re:It may be small... (Score:1, Insightful)
When you have a cell phone, or Internet connection, and the ruling thug doesn't want you to use it, a few well-placed bullets by the thug's goons pretty much dissuades you.
The problem is you assume others have respect for human life of their fellow countrymen. As a person who's been on all 7 continents and 94 countries, I can tell you that for much of the world those assumptions are worthless. Neighbors and fellow countrymen are simply obstacles to me getting whatever I want, when I want it.
Infrastructures in many of those dirt-poor countries are bad not because they don't have money or food or water, but because the ruling thugs WANT it that way. Easier to repress the masses. Keep them struggling to feed themselves or get a mouthful of water and you can more easily rule them.
And because they do not require their "people" to work to build an infrastructure and economy. No, we in the Western World simply give the government all they want. So they can supposedly build that infrastructure, and feed the masses. But that doesn't happen. The ruling thugs get fat on our well-intentioned (but entirely misplaced) funds, and they let more people starve, and plead more poverty so we send more...
And if this sounds like a rant against foreign aid - you read it completely right.
You want to know how to help out the shitholes of the world? Drop in a few special ops teams and blow off a few skulls. Seriously. Because these places WILL NOT CHANGE without cutting out the cancer that is the thugocracy running the place. Current ruler dies? Nothing changes - a crony steps in. And on and on. You want to change and better the lives of the people? It'll take a few 12.7mm sniper rounds, not dollars and flour (or flowers).
- Rants of a guy who's been to several of the shitholes of the world to at least work directly with the people, when possible.