Mushrooming Internet Hosts

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? A "host" is a computer that acts as a source of information that can be obtained over the Internet. The total number of hosts is a valuable measure of Internet growth. It's the inverse of estimates of the number of people online: a measure of the value people can access online.

THE TREND: () Not surprisingly, there were few hosts until the early 1990s, at which point the number began to grow at an exponential pace, nearly doubling every year between 1990 and 1996. By July 1997, there were close to 20 million hosts, and by the end of January 1998, close to 30 million. On a hosts-per-capita basis, with the exception of Finland, the United States leads the world by a significant margin.

THE DATA:

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Index Home | Introduction
SECTION I | SECTION II | SECTION III
Productivity Paradox | Knowledge Economy
Nine Myths | Data Sources | Endnotes | The Authors

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