A recent visit to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission website provided some food for thought when it comes to how the Internet was predicted to impact Canadians versus how it really evolved into a part of our day-to-day lives.  I came across some statistics they released from 1998/1999 on the new media in Canada. 

Some of those stats included:

• it is estimated that by 2001, approximately 40% of households will have access to the Internet (approximately 5 million households), double the number from 1998;
• 150 million people are connected to the Internet (half of which are in the US);
• Canadians spend over 20 hours a month on-line, with 61% connecting at least seven times a week. The most common uses are e-mail (77%) and accessing information (71%).

When it comes to e-commerce alone, Canadians have accounted for nearly $3 billion in annual sales in recent years, and is just one example of the Internet's shift from being a series of alphanumberic sites.