Sunday, January 26, 2014

Number of Internet Connected Devices

Everyone is connected!
       While I was surfing the Humor section in Pinterest on my iPad, attempting to do some research on my laptop, texting my sister to ask how far she had gotten in Lord of the Rings, and syncing my iPod to my desktop, I got to wondering, “How many internet-connect devices do I have in my house?” Almost immediately after, my mind skipped to the question, “How does this number compare to other kids my age living in different countries?” After reading some intriguing articles, talking to some acquaintances in Germany, Thailand, and Mexico, and counting up my number of devices, I found some interesting results. According to Miniwatts Marketing Group, around 45% of all internet users worldwide came from Asia in 2012. Even more crazy is that their internet usage has grown by 3,606.7% since 2000! Interestingly, North America only has 11% of the world’s users while Europe has a whopping 21%. I understand that Asia is bound to have a large percentage of internet users because of its over two billion people, but the rapid spread of technology and wealth since 2000 is truly staggering. However, the same cannot be said for Africa. Although it has over one billion people, only around 15% of people have internet connected devices, while in North America that number is much higher at 78% (although we have a smaller population).

       After counting up my family’s internet connected gadgets, I found that I have at least ten in my house. That is double the U.S. national average according to the Bloomberg Tech Blog (which puts the mean at five). After talking to other kids around the world and reading the statistics, I realized what an outlier my family is compared to others elsewhere. I have a few laptops, desktops, iPods, and an iPad; however, this number is the same with all my other friends in the United States. I discovered that some families in the Ukraine, Germany, and Mexico have two internet devices, a boy in Thailand only has one, and girl from France has eleven! This gap in wealth and ability to get access to internet doesn’t mean those countries are terrible and are lacking necessary provisions; rather they are more practical and frugal than in America. Why does someone really need an iPad, iPhone, tablet, Macbook, and Wii all at the same time?

       As well as in America, Europeans are fond of technology and, at least in the big cities, many people are constantly on their phones (i.e. in Rome, Paris, London, etc). According to the Guardian, 58% of Europeans alone have Smartphones. I remember my taxi driver who was taking my family to the airport in Milan yakking away on his savvy phone while trying to drive a stick-shift down an 80 mile an hour highway—multitasking at its best! Although I am sometimes embarrassed  to admit just how much I have in terms of technology, I admit it is neat to be able to talk to my family overseas in England, Scotland, and India. Without the internet and the number of devices I have, that would not be possible at all. Also from the Guardian, I read that the number of internet connected products was predicted to exceed the human population in 2013. Is this just madness or the result of globalization, commercialization, and growing wealth? Leave your thoughts below!

Sources:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/feb/07/mobile-internet-outnumber-people
http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-blog/2012-08-29-average-household-has-5-connected-devices-while-some-have-15-plus/
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
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