Two things related to the Internet are not a secret in today's world: that the use of the Internet has increased since its introduction in society in the early 1990s and that it has become the standard for business and personal use in recent years. There are literally over a hundred statistics and several different sites that publish these statistics. In particular, there are two sets of statistics that I would like to comment on (1):
1) In Africa, 4.5 million people connected to the Internet in 2000, but in 2014 this number increased significantly to more than 300 million, which is almost 7,000 percent more. The Middle East also saw a significant increase from 3 million in 2000 to 113 million in 2014. This is more than 1000 percent more than 14 years.
2) North America has almost 90% of its population visiting the Internet, while Europe has more than half of its population using the Internet.
Africa and the Middle East are seen as more traditional areas that do not need the technology that North America and Europe provide to a small number of Internet users in these areas in 2000. It is also commonly accepted that such traditional areas may not cover the use of the Internet, given the controversial content found on the Internet, and how it may be contrary to local beliefs and customs.
The significant increase in Internet usage in Africa and the Middle East shows that the Internet can touch and spread to the most traditional areas over time and at such a fast pace. It may also show that some local cultures are ready to move to a more moderate stage and allow the use of the Internet. It is possible that once, remote villas and more conservative areas may have access to the Internet on the basis of a growing number.
When the Internet was available to the public in North America in mid-1990, it was considered a premium service that many people did not have. Very few people used their email address as contact information, and brick and mortar stores were still the primary means of buying items. Although sites such as Yahoo, Amazon and eBay began their existence in the 1990s, they did not become well-known sites until the beginning of the next decade.
But since statistics underestimate almost 90% of North Americans using the Internet, a lot has changed. Almost every household has access to the Internet, e-mail has become the standard method of communication between the parties, and e-commerce sites account for a large proportion of purchases, not shopping stores. I do a lot of shopping on Amazon, where I can find a lot of items that I could not find in local stores. Thus, the Internet is a way of life and a way of doing business in North America and, perhaps, someday will become a model of life all over the world.
Thus, for every business, it is important that the Internet includes in its daily use wherever it receives a website, a mobile website or a mobile application, since the use of the Internet also extends to mobile phones.
(1) Internet usage statistics are taken from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm.
