Internet Soon to Contain 500 BILLION GB of Data
Internet Soon to Contain 500 BILLION GB of Data
Posted 05/19/2009 at 11:45am
| by Paul Lilly
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We often preach the importance of maintaining a good backup scheme, but when it comes to the internet, such a task would now be incredibly overwhelming. Just how much data are we talking about? According to the guardian.co.uk, enough to fill a stack of books stretching from Earth to Pluto 10 times over. Put into a different perspective, it would take one top-end iPod for every two people on the planet to back up the entire internet.
In more concrete terms, the amount of data online now sits at 487 billion gigabytes. And get this - that number is expected to double in size in the next 18 months, according to technology consultancy IDC. Compare that to in 2007, when the IDC estimated the world's digital content to be at 161 billion gigabytes.
The rapid rise in data can be largely be attributed to digital cameras, cell phones, and the social networking phenomenon.
"Devices such as camera phones, and the web 2.0 services like social networking sites have created a nation of digital hoarders," said Mike Altendorf, managing director of EMC consulting, the firm who sponsored the research.
Image Credit: miltonalexander.com
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dinny
November 26, 2010 at 9:37am
OMG! I never thought about the internet data from this perspective. It's a really interesting post and I am looking forward to tell my friend about it. The numbers are so fabulous that when I think about backup data solutions I just panic.
Dinny - edi solution
ferds7
May 19, 2009 at 7:29pm
How did they come up with this number? Maybe I'm blind but I didn't see an answer to that question.
chronium
May 19, 2009 at 2:39pm
I think you guys are looking at it the wrong way the internet is the back up of the majority of the data because I do not know anyone who deletes the original copy of the files they post online.
habuza
May 19, 2009 at 12:10pm
shit compared to the amount of money the government owes. I say government because *WE* the people are no longer in control, and haven't been for a while. So if the government wants to run itself into the ground, I say let it.
500 billion gigabytes.. hrmm... that equates to what... a holyshitwtfbbqbyte?
QuadCoreAbe
May 19, 2009 at 12:13pm
I say you probably can pile up a 100 times the length from here to pluto with pennies from the national debt.
dag1992
May 19, 2009 at 11:55am
Thanks to Comcast and Warner we can't access much of that, so what's the point?
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