Top Uses of the Internet

I had an interesting discussion with one of my friends at work about the top uses of the Internet. Would you care to guess what number one is? You would be right if you guessed, "communication" or "e-mail." It depends upon whose list you are reading as both are credited with the top spot.

Everyone uses the Internet for a number of different things. Some people use it for entertainment while others use it for research. However we all use it to send and receive e-mail. There are also a lot that use it for sending or reading tweets. Think about Facebook and isn't that just another form of e-mail/communication?

So what are some other categories of Internet usage? Looking at a number of "Top-10" lists show that it can be used for downloading files, playing games, looking for a job, or shopping. I think the great thing about the Internet is that there are so many uses and no one person uses it the same as another.

I remember doing a similar search when the World Wide Web first started becoming popular. There were as many ideas as there were companies trying to capitalize on the technology. Does anyone remember WebVan? They tried to deliver groceries before going under. It is probably no coincidence that they got folded into Amazon who is now trying to do something similar with their acquisition of Whole Foods.

It is nice to see that the Internet has matured to the point of where it is now. I think there is a lot more innovation we will see with it and is exciting to see what new ideas will arise from it in the future. I imagine that the majority of new ideas will be evolutionary instead of revolutionary. Don't be surprised by the revolutionary ideas though as they do come along every now and then. It is just a matter of time.