Increase in number of people connected to internet

Description:

Because internet connections are being rolled out into more homes, and new areas more people are connecting to the internet. A second reason is because more and more businesses depend on technology people have to be educated in the use of computers and the internet and are therefor capable of using it, and they want it in their homes. A third reason could be that more and more content is being offered making it more interesting for people to join in. This is relevant because without it, an e-book business would not have the potential customer base it has now.

Besides the internet access through computers, the technological innovations have made it possible for us to check our email,surf the internet or read an e-book directly from our mobile devices.

Enablers:

1. Consistent financial growth over the past years has provided the means for technological development
2. Businesses moving online forcing employees to become familiar with the internet, they will start using it at home as well
3. Computers are now in every home
4. Broadband and flat fee subscriptions are becoming more widely used
5. A lot of organizations allow their employees to work from home, over the internet
6. Personal administrations, taxes, banking can now be done online
7. Social contacts are maintained over the internet as well, which causes people to persuade their friends to start using the internet at home as well
8. Better cellular coverage everywhere, allowing better speeds
9. People want to be able to access everything everywhere, and are willing to spend money to be able to do so
10. Developments in mobile devices make it easier to use the internet on them
11. Snowball effect is taking place, more people are going online on their mobile becomes "everyone else is"
12. Being online on your phone no longer has the social status of just being for geeks, now also "normal people" are using it

Inhibitors:

1. The current financial crisis is shrinking the budget for luxury articles, the internet is perceived as a luxury article
2. Poorer parts of the world have not started rolling out the internet when other parts did, which means they are at a disadvantage
3. Generation of people who are technology averse (old people) will probably not adapt to the internet in large numbers
4. Most companies still offer alternatives means of gathering their information besides online, making it easy for people to hold of on using the internet
5. People are set in the ways and reluctant to change, so if their current lifestyle excludes the internet they will be hesitant to include it
6. Places where poverty is a big problem, the internet will have a very low priority
7. Alternatives like fixed wifi spots
8. Smartphones are more expensive then simple phones
9. People don’t want to get familiar with the more “complex” technology of smart phones
10. Going online takes a lot out of the battery of your mobile phone
11. More people are using laptops, making it obsolete to use their mobile phone for the internet
12. Costs are still relatively high for mobile internet usage

Timing:

1969 ARPANET, first form of the internet
1971 first form of email
1974 TCP/IP first used
1979 USENET launched as a means of sharing and discussing information
1990 research started into faster lines and search engines
1992 world wide web released by CERN
1994 Pizza hut offered online pizza ordering, first web-shop
2009 1.1 billion people using the internet regularly, 70% of Americans online
2011 estimations from Jupiter research say 22% of the world will use the internet regularly

Web Resources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet#Historiography
2. http://www.davesite.com/webstation/net-history.shtml