The internet will be weaving its way around the world for decades, but will there be fewer new users in 2011 than there were in 2010?
The internet is already considered so important in Finland, Spain and Estonia that access is a legal right. And the list of online possibilities keeps on growing. In 2010, the launch of Apple's iPad and other touchscreen computers made surfing more fun and intuitive, while several smartphone operating systems, especially Google's Android, took off, extending the mobile net's reach.
Despite internet ubiquity in the developed world, right now just 20 per cent of individuals in the developing world are online. That low penetration, combined with ever cheaper devices, the ability to access the internet via cellphone networks and increasing broadband reach, will ensure that the fraction of the global population that is online keeps rising - for decades.
But sheer number of users isn't the only interesting internet data point. Below, we use the rate of growth in internet access to make some intriguing near-term predictions about adoption.
