©Mark
Ollig
Cisco
Systems Inc., headquartered in San Jose, CA, is one of the primary
manufacturers of network equipment that keeps the internet operating.
Cisco
released their updated “Forecast and Trends White Paper” Feb. 27.
They
predict global IP (Internet Protocol) data traffic by 2020 will reach a
staggering 4.8 sextillion bytes (ZB) or 4.8 trillion gigabytes.
It
is said our human brain has about 3 gigabytes (3GB) of information/data storage
space.
Our
brain also has 100 billion neurons, each having 10,000 connections passing
signals to each other through as many as 1,000 trillion synaptic links.
When
we take this into account, most computational neuroscientists believe the
brain’s actual storage capacity is from 10 terabytes (10TB) to 2.5 million
gigabytes or 2.5PB (petabyte).
But,
I digress.
When
we look at the enormous amount of digital internet data out there, one can
easily be overwhelmed with the numbers.
Each
day, 2.5 quintillion bytes or 2.5 exabytes (2.5EB) of digital data is generated
over the internet. It would require 10 million Blu-ray discs to hold this
amount of data.
I
was surprised to learn the amount of data created by US companies each year
alone could fill 10,000 Libraries of Congress.
The
continued growth of devices working interactively or autonomously over the
internet include smartphones, smart cars, smart wearables, smart home devices,
digital cameras; internet-connected refrigerators, ovens, toasters, and other
appliances; and many different kinds of IoT (Internet of Things)-connected
devices.
Next
year, an estimated 220 million “smart cars” with built-in IP capability will
become part of the digital landscape, having direct internet connectivity.
The
following internet statistics are worth noting:
•
There are 4.35 billion internet users as of March 2.
•
One-hundred percent of Iceland’s citizens use the internet.
•
2019 online sales will reach $3.5 trillion.
•
Worldwide, nearly 2 billion people will be making online internet purchases
this year.
•
This year, an estimated 80 percent of US internet users will transact an online
purchase.
•
Every day, more than 3.5 billion Google searches are performed.
•
Internet/Web bots (web robots or software applications running automated tasks)
now account for 52 percent of all internet traffic, while 48.5 percent comes
from you and me (humans).
•
More than 49 percent of all online sales occur on Amazon.
•
Businesses and consumers using IoT devices will save an estimated $1 trillion
by 2020.
•
Smartphones account for more than 70 percent of YouTube viewing.
•
Every 60 seconds, 510,000 comments are posted and 136,000 photos uploaded using
Facebook.
•
Twitter has more than 69 million users in the US.
•
More than 500 million tweets/messages are sent every day on Twitter.
•
As of December 2018, 1.95 billion websites were active on the internet.
•
The world’s first website, created by Tim Berners-Lee, was activated Aug. 6,
1991.
It
is projected, by the year 2022, the internet will have added 1.5 billion new users,
bringing the total global internet user count to 5.85 billion. The same year,
the world’s population is forecast to be nearly 8 billion.
The
internet continues to grow exponentially, and more of the devices we use in our
daily lives – at home, in our car, and at our workplace – are being connected
to it.
At
some point in 2020, the world will have more than 50 billion smart,
internet-connected devices collecting, analyzing, and sharing data.
