One of SA's largest Internet service providers (ISPs), MWeb, has released a report that looks at how the Internet has changed over the last 15 years.
Entitled "The Internet of Everything", it also examines how far the country has come in terms of connectivity over the period.
This follows the launch of the company's national WiFi initiative in partnership with global WiFi hotspot service Fon, in January. MWeb says WiFi and Web connections in public spaces are enabling a more connected world. Here are nine trends the ISP has identified to have emerged over the past decade-and-a-half:
1. The 'Internet of everywhere' is starting to become a reality for South Africans. Global developments in WiFi access and connectivity in public spaces is starting to shape the way in which we use the Internet, and innovate in business and in life.
2. There have been a number of key Internet developments since 1999, when WiFi first became available in the home. These include:
a. Going from only being able to connect to the Internet from work, home or an Internet caf'e 15 years ago, to being able to roam anywhere, even at the International Space Station.
b. Going from chunky laptops and cellphones to a host of Web-enabled devices in our daily lives, including smartphones, smart watches and tablets.
c. The average South African Internet user's Internet connection grew from a 56KB dial-up line to ADSL speeds of up to 40MB per second, with 100MB capacity currently being trialled.
d. The Web evolution from social networks Geocities, MySpace and Napster to a fast-growing host of social networks today.
e. Checking out dancing babies, watching Internet start-ups go public before witnessing the burst of the dotcom bubble, and hearing reports of hacking into the White House/Pentagon in 1999, to people posting selfies and food Instagrams in 2014, and seeing the latest social media start-up go public and the US government allegedly hacking people's data.
3. Today, of all the South Africans who access data on their phones, 48% do it through their mobile network, 12% access it through public WiFi and 11% through home WiFi. (TNS survey).
4. Today, smartphones are about three times as desirable to consumers as tablets or smart televisions. (TNS Survey).
5. Globally, WiFi is enabling smart cities through inventions such as WiFi-enabled digital street signs and traffic or parking systems.
6. WiFi-enabled devices are also allowing consumers to interact with things and people around them in new ways. Tools available today range from mobile credit card readers for small business owners, and coffee machines that remember your preference, to solutions that allow you to download songs at concerts, avoid crowds at conferences, or track your fitness on the go.
7. The rise of the "Coffice", with WiFi available everywhere, is rendering the traditional office obsolete. It has become fashionable for entrepreneurs to work from coffee shops and casual co-working spaces.
8. Some of the top apps for business people in today's connected world include www.dropbox.com for file sharing, www.google.com/drive to file share backup, www.teuxdeax.com and www.wunderlist.com to create simple to do lists, www.asana.com for free project management, www.evernote.com to take better notes, www.freshbooks.com for cloud accounting, and www.ilovecoffee.co.za which tells you about the best coffee shops in SA and what to order. (List courtesy of Memeburn.)
9. The "Sharing Economy", the idea of large-scale collaborative consumption, dubbed by Time Magazine as one of the "10 ideas that will change the world", is now starting to take off in SA through the launch of shared platforms such as Fon, the free global WiFi network.