Mar. 14, 2008 - 281,000,000,000 Gigabytes

By: Chris Brubaker

Have you ever wondered how much information is on the WWW?
Well a study by IDC tried to answer that question, using a complex formula they put together an estimation as to how much information is on the Internet. What they came up with is that in 2007 there were 281 Billion gigabytes of information on the Internet. That breaks out to 45 gigabytes per person (worldwide).

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Not only are there 281 Billion gigabytes (or 281 Exabytes) of information on the Internet but there is more information on the Internet than there is digital storage in the world. By 2011, the study estimates that only half of all information on the Internet will be stored…(yeah, I KNOW). That leaves the rest floating around in cyber space. How’s that possible? Well here’s the way some experts break it down:

In New York City there are more cars than parking spaces, but it’s not always a problem because there are always some cars being used and driving around, thus freeing up space for those that need to park. This is the same way the Internet’s information works (in a very simple form), as some of the information is always being used and “in transit”, freeing up room for information to be stored. In other words, there is going to be a lot of information in the future just simply being transmitted over the Internet (movies, TV, music), not necessarily stored all at the same time.

As I post this blog today I’d just like to point out that I contributed 28 KB of information (with this blog) to the Internet. I’m quite proud of myself. Let me know what you think about all this, post a comment and add to my information contribution.
[Ars Technica]

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