The internet, since its inception in 1969, has been a trend, an utility, which has influenced our life.
For some, like those in Africa, it is a privilege. And for others, like those in America, it is a necessity.
The penetration of the internet has been steadily increasing. This is definitely for the good, as the vast amount of knowledge, and information, contributed by the internet, among other factors, would go onto improve the lifestyle of people.
If we consider the current internet statistics, as on 30th June 2010, Asia leads the continents in terms of absolute volume of internet penetration.
But if you consider relative percentages, in terms of the population of the respective continents, America leads the pack.
This goes onto show that the penetration of the internet in a particular continent is closely linked to the lifestyle of its people, to their wealth and abundance.
We strongly look forward to the day when each and every thinking individual in this world would have basic access to the internet. This would be the day when everyone would be considered as empowered and can have equal access to the information and opportunities created by the internet.
But then, why do we need the internet for?
This can be illustrated by Maslow's Hierarchy of Internet Needs.
So what does Maslow propose?
At the very base of the pyramid, stand the "Cats". He says that internet users come looking for funny pictures of cats.
This may have been the case a few years back. But even today, searching for photographs and pictures is one of the primary usages of internet.
Next comes social networking.
Man is a social animal. In the old age, meeting up socially was considered to be a norm for keeping in touch with acquaintances.
In this fast forward age of the internet, networking socially is considered to be the order of the day. Needless to say, you have a host of social networking sites to assist you in this - including the current rage, Facebook.
Next comes something whose popularity need not even be mentioned.
You can understand the mass of people looking for this information when you will find out that there are approximately 193 million results for this query in Google.
And the results are bound to grow going ahead. Unless all people decide to practice celibacy.
People also look for answers for addressing their shortcomings on the internet.
All of us have certain shortcomings. Self Introspection can provide answers to resolve them. But many a times, we have little faith in what our mind says to us.
Thankfully, we have someone to answer of queries, and to resolve the intricate questions of our mind. It is the internet.
Next comes knowledge search.
People across all age groups, right from students, professionals, adolescents come looking for something which will increase their knowledge base.
This might help students do better in their studies, or help professionals do nicely at their jobs, or help adolescents to improve their lifestyle. This is one of the strongest benefits of the internet.
At the summit of Maslow's pyramid is Productivity.
Once the other lower level needs are satisfied, the man will aim for realization of this need - the need of self actualization.
Frankly, I did not understand how this need relates to the internet. Have to end this blog post on an incomplete note. :-( :-(.
But leaving things incomplete is not a good thing. So I need to make a resolve to complete this last part once I understand this better. And I strongly hope that it is soon.
