Internet Turns 40On October 29th 1969, the first transmission between two computers took place between the University Of California and the Stanford Research Institute. After this amazing occasion, however, it wasn’t until the mid 1970’s that engineers developed a way to link networks together to create the internet. Today the internet is accessed by more than a billion users and that’s only the beginning of the facts. Did you know 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media? If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia (note that Facebook is now creeping up – recently announced 300 million users). One out of 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum. 80% of Twitter usage is accomplished without a personal computer. People update their Twitter anywhere, anytime. Imagine what that means for bad customer experiences. There are over 200,000,000 blogs. 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us. The facts are staggering.
Some feel that the internet is as important as food, water, air, or even life itself. In fact Finland has just become the first country in the world to declare broadband Internet access a legal right, not a privilege mind you, but a legal right for all its citizens.
The internet is vital to your success, whether you are an auctioneer or a nonprofit organization. If you are in the world of business and are not using all that the internet has to offer — blogs, social networks and all the other streams — because you feel it takes up too much time or it is just used for socializing, you are not maybe losing revenue you are losing revenue. Hire someone that can connect you to these online opportunities if you do not have the time yourself. Are you ready for the revolution?