Although originally designed to allow scientists to share data and access remote computers, email quickly becomes the most popular application. Queen Elizabeth goes online with the first royal email message. Users from all over the world join these discussion groups to talk about the net, politics, religion and thousands of other subjects. A new host is added approximately once every 20 days. The combination of inexpensive desktop machines and powerful, network-ready servers allows many companies to join the Internet for the first time.
Corporations begin to use the Internet to communicate with each other and with their customers.
The number of Internet hosts exceeds 1,000. By 1988 the Internet is an essential tool for communications, however it also begins to create concerns about privacy and security in the digital world. The number of Internet hosts exceeds 100,000. The number of hosts exceeds 300,000. In 1991 the NSF lifts the restriction on commercial use, clearing the way for the age of electronic commerce.