Perspective: The Internet--All Grown Up

Reprinted with permission from CNET News

Remember when Bill Clinton and Al Gore were seeking the White House in 1992, and they kept talking about an amorphous concept referred to as the "information superhighway"?

The concept sounded jazzy, but some of us were not exactly sure what it meant. A decade and a half later, we sure know what the Internet is, as it has penetrated practically every critical aspect of modern American life.

According to a recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, a whopping 73 percent of American adults currently are Internet users--and the percentage is increasing. Since March 2001, the percentage of Americans who report that the Internet has greatly improved their ability to do their jobs has grown to 35 percent from 24 percent. Over the same time frame, the share of online Americans who state that the Internet has improved their ability to obtain health care information has increased to 20 percent from 17 percent.