I just read an article today that estimates that by 2003 the U.S. will account for only 35% of all internet users, down from 70% and that 30% will be from Europe and another 20% from Asia. This means that the Internet will not only be in English anymore and as much as you would like to think English will be a unifying language that everyone in the world will use, if it happens it will not happen for a long time. This means companies that want to compete globally will have to create localized versions of their software and internet sites or they will lose out to someone else who will. Linux will in fact fare better in India and China because it is cheaper, if they can localize the OS. The U.S. may have launched the internet but it will not be a U.S. English only internet for very much longer as the rest of the world catches up to our technologies. Anyone who thinks in U.S.-centric terms will be left out in the cold with the era of Globalization.
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I just read an article today that estimates that by 2003 the U.S. will account for only 35% of all internet users, down from 70% and that 30% will be from Europe and another 20% from Asia. This means that the Internet will not only be in English anymore and as much as you would like to think English will be a unifying language that everyone in the world will use, if it happens it will not happen for a long time. This means companies that want to compete globally will have to create localized versions of their software and internet sites or they will lose out to someone else who will. Linux will in fact fare better in India and China because it is cheaper, if they can localize the OS. The U.S. may have launched the internet but it will not be a U.S. English only internet for very much longer as the rest of the world catches up to our technologies. Anyone who thinks in U.S.-centric terms will be left out in the cold with the era of Globalization.