The Future of the Web According to Its Founder:

Tim Berners-Lee, the true founder of the web, recently said, ``You should think of [the web] as a universal space in which there will be everything,''

• IMPLICATIONS FOR THERAPISTS: It vital for our profession to get on-line.

The Internet: Fastest Growing Technology Ever:

The US government made news recently with the release of a study showing that the Internet is the fastest growing technology of all times -- faster than television, radio, or computers. Click here if you would like to learn more than you could possibly want to know about this. (Clue: Chapter 1 is where this statistic is referenced.)

• IMPLICATIONS FOR THERAPISTS: It doubly vital for our profession to get on-line.

Generation Gap On-Line:

According to a massive survey, those under 25 are using the Internet for many areas of their life, a habit they are likely to continue into their middle adult life. This survey included interviews of more than 40,000 Internet users conducted during 1997 by the Gallup Organization. Gallup found that Internet use pervades almost every aspect of the lives of people age 18 to 24 in contrast to the business approach of an older generation classified as 35- to- 54-year-olds. The younger age group looks to the Web for many key aspects of their private and personal lives, including entertainment, socializing (via online "chat" rooms), recreation, plus news and information.

• IMPLICATIONS FOR THERAPISTS: When this age group hits their mid-life crises, they will automatically turn to the Internet for resources and solutions.
  

Demographics:

"The distribution of educational attainment has been virtually unchanged since the Fourth survey. For the Seventh Survey, 54.24% of respondents have completed a college or advanced degree."

"Nearly a third of the users (30.24%) report being in a Computer related field, with 24.48% being in Education, 20.61% Professional, 14.73% Other and 9.95% Management."

"The mean average household income is $58k (US dollars). This number agrees quite well with the findings of random telephone surveys."

GVU WWW 7th Survey Results

"The 7th Survey was run from April 10, 1997 through May, 1997 and was endorsed by the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (which exists to develop common standards for the evolution of the Web)
and INRIA (the acting European host for the W3C in collaboration with CERN, where the Web originated)."

• IMPLICATIONS FOR THERAPISTS: Don't these sound like ideal potential clients, particularly if you are trying for a practice with a self-pay cornerstone?

The Future of the Internet:

Though many of us have not yet "mastered" the current Internet, there will be more "internets." Internet II already is being developed, and word is just seeping out about a third version, dubbed (for now) Internet III. Whereas "The Internet" was a combined project of the Defense Department and universities, Internet II has major corporation involvement as well. Internet III is being developed to support "knowledge" as distinct from "information." Regardless of how all of this plays out in the next few years, this huge investment of talent, resources, and dollars from these major segments of our society clearly indicate that the Digital River is here to stay. This in turn argues that our profession needs to get involved and on-line sooner than later. This is true not just for marketing reasons, but for clinical reasons as well. This is a technological phenomenon that will be a major part of peoples lives for better and for worse, just as with other phenomenon we take for granted. For a brief story (and for a taste of an opinionated columnist), click here for more information on I2 and I3.

• IMPLICATIONS FOR THERAPISTS: This huge investment of talent, resources, and dollars from these major segments of our society clearly indicate that the Digital River is here to stay. This argues that our profession needs to get involved and on-line sooner rather than later. This is true not just for marketing reasons, but for clinical reasons as well. This is a technological phenomenon that will be a major part of peoples lives for better and for worse, just as with other phenomenon we take for granted.