Software tools are becoming hardware and OS independant as well and this further improves data accessibility. Last, but not least, both media provide a lot of information at low cost. The internet represents a new global information infrastructure that warrants further discussion. Servers are those individuals or groups that wish to share information with each other or the World. Clients are individuals who need to access information provided by the servers.
Information is presented in the form of text, pictures, audio, movies, multimedia and applications.
Internet and the World Wide Web Internet growth has been explosive since 1992 when the World Wide Web began. There are currently more than 7 million computers permanently connected to the internet, and more than 30 million users growing at a rate of more than 80,000 per month. This explosive growth is due to increased accessibility in terms of expense, faster networks, and the development of useful internet software tools. Virtually everyone is establishing a presence on the internet. A common misconception is that GIS is simply a CAD software with an associated database.