Today I learned that only 1/3rd of the world population is online

Perhaps I’m ignorant, but it struck me as somewhat shocking that only one-third of the world population is online. I didn’t think it was too high – perhaps 50%-60% – but for it to be as low as it is took me by surprise.

We’re definitely making advancements. Latin America is over 40% now, and the saturation of North America, Europe, and Australia is all pretty high. Still, in this digital age, one would think that the wonders of the internet had hit a higher mark than it has worldwide. Asia has the highest percentage of mobile internet usage. Tablets and smartphones are often less expensive and more accessible than laptops and desktops and in the case of smartphones can kill two birds with one stone, so that makes sense.

In this infographic by Dell, we see that while the overall population of the world is rising at a dramatic pace, the number of people connected through the internet is rising faster. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?