Internet and the World Wide Web

In two years (from 1993-1995), the World Wide Web exploded from an unknown entity to one which pervades every aspect of life: access to libraries around the world, recipes and coupons for tonight's dinner, medical advice, details on how to build your own space shuttle, and shopping for everything from music to mortgages. By 1997, 47 million Americans had attempted to access the Internet, prompting high-tech executives to classify the Internet as "mass media." Colleges are using the Internet to market their facilities, recruit students, and solicit funds from alumni. In 2003, the Internet search engine "Yahoo!" reviewed 4,000 campuses and identified the top 100 schools as the "most wired" with access to library catalogs, access to the Web for students, computer connections available to every dormitory resident, and a range of other services. Programs for younger students sponsored by the NSF and NASA let grade schoolers go on "electronic field trips" through closed-circuit television broadcasts from Mars, the South Pole, and other places far beyond the classroom.

A survey conducted in 2003 showed the average Internet user spent 11.2 hours per week using the Internet and that 25% of Internet users in the U.S. used broadband connections.