How It Works

How the internet has changed our lives in the past 25 years

by · 27/11/2014

It has been 25 years since the launch of the first-ever commercial internet service provider (ISP) in November 1989, and technology has changed quite a lot since.

For example, 25 years ago there were just 159,000 hosts or websites worldwide, now there are more than 1 billion, and the basic iPhone 5S is 65 times faster and has 8,000 times more memory than a PC in 1989.

Also:

  • A 4GB Kindle can now store 3,000 books, but a mobile library carrying that many books in 1989 would have weighed 9,000 kilograms (19,840 pounds).
  • The 220,000 photos uploaded to Instagram every minute in 2014 would have used up 9,116 camera film rolls in 1989.
  • Sending the 2.3 million emails that are now sent every second would have cost you £1.24 million ($1.95 million) in 2nd class stamps in 1989.

To find out more fascinating facts about how the internet has changed out lives in the past 25 years, check out this interactive graphic.

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Find out even more about the latest ground-breaking technology changing our lives, such as how mobile payments work, in issue 66 of How It Works magazine. Order it in print or download the digital edition.