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Technology Infrastructure: The Internet and the World Wide Web

multiple locations. In the rest of the world, mobile devices are often the only affordable way to access

the Internet. For example, about 80 percent of the U.S. population had broadband access to the 61

Internet in 2013 either through a home broadband connection, a smartphone, or both. Including those

who have slower connections at home or broadband connections at work, access to the Internet is

available to over 90 percent of the U.S. population (about 285 million people). In 2013, only 10 percent

of the U.S. population relied on their phones as their only Internet access. In China, 42 percent of the

population (about 600 million people) had Internet access in 2013, but more than 75 percent of that

access was through mobile devices. In India, a mere 11 percent of the population (about 140 million

people) had any Internet access; about half of it through mobile devices. Internet access (in total,

through all types of devices) is growing between 3 percent and 8 percent in China, India, and other

rapidly developing economies, such as Brazil.

As you learned in Chapter 1, rapid growth in the use of Internet-capable phones is expected to

continue in developing countries. As their Internet access increases and their economies develop,

many observers expect vast increases in online business activity to follow.

THE INTERNET AND T HE WORLD W IDE W EB

A computer network is any technology that allows people to connect computers to each other.
An internet (small “i”) is a group of computer networks that have been interconnected. In fact,
“internet” is short for “interconnected network.” One particular internet, which uses a specific
set of rules and connects networks all over the world to each other, is called the Internet
(capital “I”). Networks of computers and the Internet that connects them to each other form
the basic technological structure that underlies virtually all electronic commerce.
This chapter introduces you to many of the hardware and software technologies that
make electronic commerce possible. First, you will learn how the Internet and the World
Wide Web work. Then, you will learn about other technologies that support the Internet,
the Web, and electronic commerce. In this chapter, you will be introduced to several
complex networking technologies. If you are interested in learning more about how
computer networks operate, you can consult one of the computer networking books cited
in the For Further Study and Research section at the end of this chapter, or you can take
courses in data communications and networking.

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