Summary


Windows 95

In August 1995, Windows 95 was launched - with built-in browser Internet Explorer - kick-starting the sale of affordable PCs that can surf the web. It is considered to be one of the biggest launches in software history.

E-Commerce

Businesses saw the opportunity to create electronic commerce websites to buy and sell goods and services through the web. Nowadays, nearly all retailers have their own website to sell their products.

Emails

A method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Before this time, phone calls or letters were the main method of communication. Nowadays, around one in every three in the world have an email address.

Blogs

Blogging took off with lots of people wanting to express themselves to the world by writing a frequently updated online personal journal or diary.

Number of Websites

1995

23,500

1996

257,601

1997

1.1m

1998

2.4m

1999

3.1m

Number of Internet Users

1995

44.8m

1996

77.4m

1997

120.8m

1998

188m

1999

280.8m