According to research conducted by a three scientists from UC San Diego, each year, Internet users consume something in the neighborhood of 9.57 zettabytes of information per year. How big is a zettabyte? 1000 exabytes, one of which equals 1000 petabytes, one of which equals 1000 terabytes, of which there are 1000 gigabytes for one terabyte.

Another way to look at the amount is one zettabyte equals one million gigabytes. In other words, a whole lot of information is being consumed on a yearly basis.

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Written out, the estimated amount of consumed Internet information per year looks like so: 9,570,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes. Considering the research findings come from 2008 levels of consumption, the 9.57 zettabyte total could be over 10 zettabytes per year by now. If you consider the increase in mobile computing as well as access courtesy of mobile applications, such an increase seems reasonable.

In a report by PhysOrg.com, the details of the research are discussed:

The first-of-its kind rigorous estimate was generated with server-processing performance standards, server-industry reports, interviews with information technology experts, sales figures from server manufacturers and other sources… The study estimated that enterprise server workloads are doubling about every two years, which means that by 2024 the world’s enterprise servers will annually process the digital equivalent of a stack of books extending more than 4.37 light-years to Alpha Centauri, our closest neighboring star system in the Milky Way Galaxy.

As for the current level of consumption in relation to book-stacking, the article reveals that, with current levels of consumption — 9,570,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes per year — the equivalent would be a stack of books that extended over 5.6 billion miles, large enough to go to Neptune and back.

The report was carried out by the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, it found only half of the 10 reporting countries had more than a majority of Internet users.

Both developed and less-developed countries reported relatively low percentages of Internet users, including Mexico (32 percent), Portugal (37%), Cyprus and Colombia (45%), Czech Republic (51%), and Chile (55%).

Only three countries and regions report more than 60 percent of respondents as Internet users: Macao (61%), the United States (78%) and Sweden (80%).

"These findings reinforce that the Internet is not yet part of life for hundreds of millions of people around the globe — even in technologically advanced countries," said Jeffrey I. Cole, director of the Center for the Digital Future, which created and manages the World Internet Project.

"And we are seeing large numbers of non-users even in countries with high levels of education and employment, long histories of Internet use, and high percentages of broadband installation."

The report found notable differences between men and women and their use of online technology. In six of the WIP countries, eight percent or more men than women use the Internet (Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Italy, Macao, Mexico). The gender gap is the largest in Mexico (16% more men than women are Internet users) and Colombia (15% more men than women.

In four of the WIP countries, the gap in Internet use between men and women is four percent or less, with the Czech Republic, Portugal, Sweden, and the United States reporting only slightly higher percentages of men than women as users.

"Countries that reported an average of five or more years of Internet use found key disparities in access to online technology," said Cole.

"For example, many countries have a long way to go to increase Internet equality among men and women."
 

Sixty-four percent of individuals 18 and over used the Internet from any location in 2007, while only 22 percent did so in 1997. Among households using the Internet in 2007, 82 percent used a high-speed connection, and 17 percent used a dial-up connection.

"As access to high speed connections have become more prevalent, so too have the number of people that connect to the Internet at home," said Thom File, a statistician with the Census Bureau Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division.

"These data give us a better understanding of who is using the Internet and from where."

Broken down by states, Alaska and New Hampshire residents had among the highest rates of Internet use from any location (home, work or public access) for those 3 and older in 2007.

Mississippi and West Virginia had among the lowest rates of Internet use at about 52 percent.

Internet usage also varied by education. For those 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree, 87 percent reported going online from any location in 2007. For those with some college, 74 percent reported using the Internet. Nearly half (49%) of those with a high school diploma reported using the Internet, compared with 19 percent for those without a high school diploma.

When looking at age groups, the percentage of 18- to 34-year olds who accessed the Internet was more than double (73%) that of people 65 and older (35%). Among children 3 to 17, 56 percent used the Internet.

The convergence panel found the heaviest users of the Internet are also among the heaviest viewers of television with the top fifth of Internet users spending more than 250 minutes per day watching television, compared to 220 minutes of television viewing by people who do not use the Internet at all.

Roughly 50 percent of all respondents had viewed some streaming content online. The demographics streaming the most content included female teens (82%), male teens (64%), men 18-34 (57%) and men 35-54 (55%).

Nearly 60 percent of panelists and more than 80 percent of people who watch TV and used the Internet had simultaneous sessions-watching TV and being online at the same minute. This group tends to be very heavy users of both TV and Internet.

Teens are the most likely demographic to have simultaneous TV/Internet usage, but adults 35-54 have the most simultaneous usage minutes.

"With our Convergence Panel we can now, for the first time, observe what could only be guessed at before – how television viewing and Internet usage interact and affect each other," said Howard Shimmel, Senior Vice President Client Insights, The Nielsen Company. 

"It is too early to draw any firm conclusions about behavior but the early trends seem to indicate that online usage is complementing, not substituting for, traditional television viewing.  We will be watching this trend carefully to see how television viewing drives Internet usage and visa versa."

The study found that Internet users spent 32.7 hours per week online and about half as much time watching television (16.4 hours). Time spent reading newspapers or magazines accounted for 3.9 hours per week, while overall time spent using all media was 70.6 hours.

"The time spent using the Internet will continue to increase at the expense of television and, to a lesser extent, print media," said Karsten Weide, program director, Digital Media and Entertainment at IDC. "This suggests that advertising budgets will continue to be shifted out of television, newspapers, and magazines into Internet advertising."

The study found that people are more likely to use the media they grew up with. The older the respondents, the more they watch TV, read newspapers and magazines; the younger they are, the more the Internet replaces usage of traditional media.

The most frequent online activities include using search engines (84% of respondents), followed by using navigation services (83%), personal research (77%), and using email (76%).

According to IDC the types of devices used to access the Internet will continue to diversify, and Internet usage will become more mobile.
 

The average person in the Asia-Pacific region went online 13.8 days in the month and spent 20.2 hours viewing 2,171 pages. This is below the global average of 17.1 Internet usage days per month, 25.2 hours of viewing 2,519 pages per month.

South Korea had the greatest rate of Internet usage, with 65 percent of its population going Online in May, followed by Australia with 62 percent, New Zealand 60 percent and Hong Kong 59 percent. India has the lowest penetration at only 3 percent.

China has the largest online population with 91.5 million but a penetration of just 9 percent of the country’s population. Japan has 53.7 million users with 49 percent penetration and South Korea 26.3 million users and 65 percent penetration. The 3 countries combined account for 60 percent of the regions Internet population.

South Korea has the most active online population, who use the Internet an average of 17.4 days per person in May and spending 31.2 hours to view 4,546 pages during the month.

New Zealand has the smallest online population with 1,949 million people but they are online 16.4 days per month above the regional average of 13.8 days.

"We all know that the Asia-Pacific region is large and that Internet usage is growing rapidly. What is fascinating about this study is that it allows us to compare Internet usage across countries using a consistent measurement methodology and to then determine where PC-based Internet engagement is most developed.

"We are looking forward to providing additional insight into the online dynamics of this important region in the future," said Bob Ivins, executive vice president of comScore.