The 17th of May has been designated as World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, but in much of the planet it's simply called Internet Day. During those 24 hours, the network takes the opportunity to share data and statistics about this extraordinary tool, and as always, there are good and bad news. The good news is that more than half of humanity is now connected to Internet in 2019. The bad news is that speed doesn't help, and most pages present performance issues due to their increasing size...
Despite all the problems it carries, Internet is a development that deserves to be celebrated. Think for a moment how your life has changed. Science, work, and entertainment have reached a completely different dimension thanks to the network of networks, and its evolution is far from over. Yesterday was May 17, Internet Day in a large part of the planet. Its adventure began in 2005, but back then it had a different spot on the calendar (October 29). Today we have some data to share, and we'll ask a question: How many people are connected?
More than half of humanity on the Internet
The numbers from the International Telecommunications Union (and other sources) reveal that global Internet penetration reached 56.8 percent in March 2019, equivalent to 4.383 billion users. That translates into a growth of 1,114 percent over the last 19 years, combining all types of connections.
https://old.neoteo.com/60-segundos-en-internet/
The African explosion, in progress
Half of the users are on the Asian continent, where growth exceeded 1,800 percent, although the biggest leap came from Africa. Despite its low penetration (37.3 percent) and its limited representation (its users are 11 percent of the total), Internet growth on the continent was close to 11,000 percent.
Speed, a pending subject
Of course, the growth of connections is not always associated with their quality, and it's worth noting that global Internet speed values are still far below user expectations. Speedtest's Global Index reports that the global average for mobile connections is 26.9 Mbps down and 10.4 Mbps up, while fixed connections reach 58.6 and 28.9 megabits per second respectively. The fastest average in the world? That's Singapore, with almost 200 Mbps in both down and up.
The Web is fat
Yes, technology advances and modern pages can do things their predecessors could only dream of, but that doesn't eliminate the fact that there are efficiency problems. The HTTP Archive reports an average of 1,828 kilobytes per page on desktops, and 1,682 kilobytes on mobile devices. Eight years ago, the average desktop page barely crossed the 500-kilobyte threshold, and a mobile page averaged 200 KB. Who's responsible? JavaScript, cookies, scripts, fonts, poorly optimized web apps, and advertising (though we need it to stay online).
The challenges are clear. There are many people out there who aren't connected yet (not even with a basic mobile phone). Performance must improve, and costs must fall. 40 percent of the Latin American population cannot access mobile services due to price. Let's celebrate, and at the same time accept the challenge of making the Internet a better place. Happy (belated) Day!
Source: Genbeta
https://old.neoteo.com/telefon-hirmondo-el-mas-antiguo-antepasado-de-internet/
