But the demographics are quickly shifting. According to the Georgia Tech Research Corporation, women are the fastest-growing component of Internet users. By 2000, it is expected that 33 percent of Internet users will be women. They weren't the first to get online, he maintains, but they have sufficient resources to purchase computers. Also, many people over 55 have a child or grandchild who helps them along.
Businesses increasingly rely on the Internet for global marketing and sales.
Electronic commerce and Internet advertising tripled during the past year and has become considerably more sophisticated. Technology futurist Glenn Hiemstra sees a dramatic expansion in electronic commerce over the next decade. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than one-third of farmers use computers and more than 13 percent have access to the Internet. The TVA Rural Studies' Farmer's Guide to the Internet explains that farmers use e-mail to communicate with extension agents, family friends and other farmers. Farmers also jump online to track commodities prices, get weather information or reports from university extension services and visit agricultural companies' Web sites where product information is available 24 hours a day.