The growth of the Internet, long waves, and global change

The Internet has appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and become firmly embedded in everyday life, even for those who are not habitual Internet users. Internet users (presently 68 percent of the US population, 45 percent of the EU population, and approximately 11 percent worldwide) are now a huge community of more than 800 million people, sending and receiving e-mails and using the Web routinely as an integrated part of their lives. The Internet is now a household word everywhere and, as Leonard Kleinrock (2001), one of its creators, stated some years ago, it is ubiquitous, always available, and as invisible as electricity.