Ubiquity, Mobility, Security: The Future of the Internet, Volume ...

Chapter 1:  The Evolution of Mobile Internet Communications
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All Respondents’ Reactions

Mostly Agree 81%
Mostly Disagree 19%
Did Not Respond *%

Note. Since results are based on a nonrandom sample, a margin of error cannot be computed. The “prediction” was composed to elicit responses and is not a formal forecast.

Respondents were presented with a brief set of information outlining the status quo of the issue 2007 that prefaced this scenario. It read:

According to the UN/ITU World Information Society Report 2007, there has been some progress in improving digital inclusion: In 1997 the nearly three-quarters of the world's population who lived in low-income and lower middle-income economies accounted for just 5% of the world's population with Internet access. By 2005, they accounted for just over 30%.1 A number of commercial and nonprofit agencies are combining forces to bring inexpensive laptop computers to remote regions of the world to connect underserved populations. In addition, by the end of 2008 more than half the world's population is expected to have access to a mobile phone.

Overview of Respondents’ Reactions: A significant majority agreed with the proposed future. The consensus is that mobile devices will continue to grow in impact because people need to be connected wherever they are; cost-effectiveness and access are motivating factors; the devices of the future will have significant computing power; and there is fear that limits set by governments and/or corporations seeking control might impede positive benefits—the expected “effortless” connectivity is dependent on their willingness to serve the public good.

The overwhelming majority agreeing with this scenario took note of the current boom in cell phone and smartphone use and imagined its extension. “By 2020, we should see several billion cell phones shipping per year, most of which will be Internet capable; this will