Falling prices on personal computers and increased access and ease of Internet connections are fueling a wave of newcomers to the Internet as well as fostering a new generation of Net users who insist on faster, high speed connections like DSL and cable modems. This has not only had a negative effect on manufacturers of personal computers and traditional forms of Internet modems, but it is also responsible for the failure of many dot-com companies. The percentage of people on the Internet for the first time has risen 33% or by more than 40 million people in the past year (Miller 3). So, too, the numbers of Internet users connecting to the Internet through faster methods has risen from 6.8% to 13.1% in the same time period (Miller 3). Further, what users are doing online has changed. There are more women online, more seniors, and users now refer to links suggested by friends as much as they rely on search engines. As these trends continue, the Internet environment continues to become as fragmented from a consumer point-of-view as the offline nation. No longer can businesses rely on the Internet as a market of sophisticated, wealthy, primarily young male users.
The impact of these trends on the Internet community and American society is great. People now have access and a means to new methods to information – from health to distance learning. Commercial enterprises will experience significant changes because of this, from people doing their banking online to others being able to retrieve their work benefits information from their home. This will entail organizations spending the resources on hardware, software, and training to get up to speed to meet the growing demand for the convenience, ease, and flexibility of Internet use by consumers.
The implications are great. Now that the Internet is so popular among consumers and so diverse and increasingly se
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