Internet and the Web

The merging of Moore's Law, Metcalfe's Law, and easy-to-use graphical interfaces form the 
foundation of the communication revolution we are now experiencing. The International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts that 320 million people will be able to access the World Wide Web by 2002. In 1997, 78 million devices connected to the Web; by 2002 this number will increase to 515 million (WISTA, 1998). In 1996, the U.S. Postal Service delivered an astonishing 185 billion pieces of first class mail, yet in that same year the Internet handled about one trillion e-mail 
messages. Federal Communications Committee Chairman Reed Hunt has said, "The communication age is connected to the greatest revolution in the history of education since the invention of the printing press" (Thourburg, 1997).