"I took the initiative in creating the Internet." - Al Gore.
Yes, he really did say it.
Here is a really interesting animation of
the world's top 20 country ranked by the number of Internet users in those countries.
It runs (as of this posting date) from 1990 through 2019. I have not verified the
numbers used by the
Animated Stats producers, but the results do not seem unreasonable. Given the the U.S. Department of Defense's research arm, Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA), created the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) that eventually
became the Internet (no, Al Gore didn't invent it), showing the U.S. as the run-away
leader in the beginning is not surprising. Around 1996, things begin to change quickly
as Japan advances, but it is in 2000 when the Internet user landscape really becomes
dynamic. The sudden movement was fueled by graphical browsers like
Netscape Navigator and
Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Mosaic, was the first popular Windows-based graphical
browser, but it was obviously a Unix porting that was kind of clunky (it was my
first browser in the early 1990s). I won't spoil the ending for you by saying which country leads the pack
by 2019, but you will not be surprised. As of 2015, the United States wasn't even
in second place anymore.
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