CHAPTER 7 Going Online: The Net, Information Services, and More
Domain Name Update Seven years after the introduction of the World Wide Web applications over 30 million domain names have been registered. That figure is expected to double in two years. About two-thirds of the current domain names end in .com. Three million end in .net and two million end in.org. The United Kingdom (.uk) and Germany (.de) lead all countries outside of the United States with about 2 million domain names each.
Why Do People Not Go Online? At present about 50 percent of the people in America do not go online and 60 percent of those have no plans to do so, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Over half of the "net illiterate" feel that the Internet is dangerous.
What Do People Do When They Go Online? The Pew Internet & American Life Project has conducted a study that resulted in a chart that details the percentage of Internet users that perform a specific online activity on any given day. The chart gives us some insight into what people do online: 47 percent send/receive e-mails; 20 percent surf the Web for fun; 19 percent seek information on their hobby; 18 percent get news; 17 percent check the weather; 16 percent do job research; 16 percent seek an answer to a specific question; 13 percent get financial information; 13 percent research a product or service; 11 percent check sports scores; 10 percent send an instant message; 9 percent do research for school; 9 percent look for information on movies books or other leisure activities; 7 percent look for health care information; 6 percent get travel information; 6 percent visit a government Web site; 6 percent play a game; 6 percent listen to music online; 5 percent seek job information; 4 percent spend time in a chat room; 4 percent bank online; 4 percent buy a product; 3 percent download MP3 files; 3 percent make travel reservations; 2 percent buy or sell stocks; 2 percent participate in an online auction; 2 percent look for a place to live; 2 percent gamble; 1 percent buy groceries online; 1 percent go to a dating Web site; and 1 percent make an Internet phone call.