Instead, they argued among themselves about resolution, frame rate, aspect ratio, and interlace, rather than let those be variables. Broadcast TV doctrine has all the dogma of the analog world and is almost devoid of digital principles, like open architecture, scalability, and interoperability. This will change, but change has so far been very slow in coming. The agent of change will be the Internet, both literally and as a model or metaphor. The Internet is interesting not only as a massive and pervasive global network but also as an example of something that has evolved with no apparent designer in charge, keeping its shape very much like the formation of a flock of ducks.
Nobody is the boss, and all the pieces are so far scaling admirably.
Nobody knows how many people use the Internet, because, first of all, it is a network of networks. As of October 1994, more than forty-five thousand networks were part of the Internet. All that needs to happen is that one of those machines serves as a public gateway to, say, France's Minitel system, and all of a sudden you have an additional 8 million potential users on the Internet. The state of Maryland offers the Internet to all of its residents , as does the city of Bologna , Italy. My guess is that 1 billion people will be connected by the year 2000.