Computer languages

• 1989 Tim Berners-Lee creates HTML language, Internet protocol (http), and addressing scheme (URL/URIs).
• 1991 Sun begins developing its new programming language, Oak (later modified as Java).
• 1995 Sun introduces Java, the first universal software platform for the Internet.
• 1998 World Wide Web Consortium accepts XML, which enables disparate software components to communicate with each other.

Wireless communication

• 1990 The number of cell phone users in the U.S. reaches 5 million.
• 1995 Wireless Internet access begins.
• 1997 The number of cell phone users in the U.S. surpasses 50 million.
• 2000 The number of cell phone users in the U.S. reaches 110 million.
• 2002 Dataquest estimates there will be 590 million digital wireless subscribers worldwide by the end of the year.

The Internet

• 1989 Berners-Lee creates the World Wide Web.
• 1993 The number of Internet users worldwide increases to 2 million.
• 1993 Marc Andreessen, a student at the University of Illinois, develops Mosaic, a graphical user interface to the Web.
• 1996 The number of Internet users worldwide increases to 45 million.
• 2002 The number of Internet users worldwide reaches 544 million.

Data storage costs

• 1992 The cost of storing 1 gigabyte drops to $1,000.
• 1997 The cost of storing 1 gigabyte drops to $50.33.
• 2002 The cost of storing 1 gigabyte drops to $2.53.

Network capacity

• 1992 The transatlantic cable TAT-10 is installed between Rhode Island and Germany. The cable can carry 1.12 gigabytes per second of traffic (80,000 simultaneous transmissions) over 4,569 miles.
• 1996 The transatlantic cable TAT-12/13 is installed, connecting cable stations between New York, Rhode Island, England, and France. The cable can carry 10 gigabytes per second of traffic (300,000 simultaneous transmissions) over 8,078 miles.
• 2002 Bell Labs announces it sent 2.56 terabytes of data per second over a distance of 2,500 miles--the equivalent of sending the contents of 2,560,000 novels every second across the U.S. (One terabyte is a little over 1 trillion bits of data.)

Graphical Representations: International Connectivity Growth Rate 1991-97

1991

1997