"If you live in an industrialized nation, chances are
you own a computer and enjoy an inexpensive connection to the
Internet. Or, if you lack such personal resources, you most likely
have ready access to cycles and bandwidth nonetheless, courtesy of
your local library, school, or corner coffee shop. In fact,
according to Internet World Stats, 75 percent or more of the
populations of first-world countries have regular access to a
computer and the Internet. For residents of the United States,
Australia, Japan, and Western Europe, connectivity is convenient to
the point of seeming ubiquitous.
"In stark contrast, less than 25 percent of the world's total
population has access to the Internet. In many parts of the world,
computers are scarce, and connectivity is even rarer. Indeed, some
of these third-world nations have barely any online ingress at all.
For example, only one percent of the people of Rwanda can connect
to the Internet, and no more than 5 percent of all Africans have
access."
