Chinese Internet Users Cross 800 Million Mark (scmp.com) 41
There are now as many internet users in China as there are people in the United States, Indonesia and Brazil combined. From a report: While two in five Chinese are still offline, the country's internet population has grown big enough to open huge market opportunities for hi-tech companies, and provide the government with better access to keep watch over its citizens, according to an analyst. China surpassed the 800-million mark for the number of internet users for the first time, further cementing its position as home to the world's biggest online community, as the country kept up its investment in infrastructure and pushed to lower access fees. The number of internet users in China rose by 30 million in the first half of this year to 802 million, representing a penetration rate of 57.7 per cent, according to a report by state agency China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) released this week. All but 1.7 per cent of the users access the internet through mobile devices, according to the report.
Re: And they don't even move the needle (Score:5, Insightful)
Best to call it Chinese intranet
Re: (Score:2)
It could also be tablets. If I can buy an Amazon Fire 7 for only 40 Canadian dollars on Prime day, I don't even want to think about the price of tablets in China.
And online freedom was lost. (Score:1)
I'm old enough to remember when everyone was saying the internet would safeguard freedom all around the world, even in the worst repressive regimes, because "it routes around censorship". It would empower the individual, so went the narrative.
As we have now seen, the internet is turning into a tool for massive scale repression, censorship, and social manipulation, instead.
Western companies, they want into that sweet, sweet market of 800M, and other big markets where you either play the repression game with
And that half billion of them are buttfuck poor (Score:3, Insightful)
China is a nation of 300 million (USA sized) people attached at the hip to 1,000 million poor third world backwards peasants. To get a handle on this, imagine that tomorrow morning every US citizen woke up with 3 clones beside him. Obviously your reaction would be, "get the hell out of my house, you deplorables!" after which the clones would be on their own with no safety net, no welfare or medicare, and the US government would not allow them to stay in the civilized cities, banishing them to the rural areas (hukou system).
That's basically the situation in China. So these 800 million users are 300 million normal people plus 500 million morons from flyover territory. Needless to say they have little to offer besides cheap labor for the benefit of the capitalists on the coasts. Kind of a metaphor for our own situation in America, eh?
Isn't it required now if you're in China? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Because having richer customers to sell to and better products to buy is somehow bad for the USA? Because not being able to start wars around the world on a whim is somehow bad for the USA? China's neighbors have some reasons to worry, but the USA can only benefit from China's development.
Re: (Score:2)
is it really 'the internet'... (Score:3, Interesting)
when they're cut-off from much of it? it's more like 800 million chinese INTRAnet users with partial, and censored, global INTERnet access-the accessibility of which is at the whim of their government.
800 Million Users (Score:4, Funny)
800 Million Users; only one political opinion allowed.
Cross the mark (Score:2)
Going which way?