computers and the internet

[beyelzu]

How many computers are connected by the internet in a given day.

How many billions of dollars did that network cost?


All those personal and business machines.

[noblesavage]

It depends on who you ask. Companies like Google probably have the best data; however I doubt they will tell you unless you pay them several million and even then, I doubt it. However:

http://www.waller.co.uk/web.htm

http://www.cybergeography.org/atlas/atlas.html
Put it to you to you this way. One fiber submarine cable that runs from continent to continent can cost billions. There are several hundred to a thousand of these. Then you have to consider the satellites. What does a satellite in geo-synchronous orbit cost? X 100? The Tier 1 big players are AT&T, SBC, Wordcom, UUNET, Telstra, BBN, British Telecom, Genuity, Cable & Wireless (UK), Deutsche Telekom (Germany), Global Crossings, Level 3, and a bunch of others I can’t remember. These are all multi-billion dollar companies (I think). This does not include the cost of all the landing stations across the globe, “peering” environments, and the millions of Cisco and Juniper routers…
The big fight in the US is between SBC, which is laying 7 billion of fiber, verses the cable companies like Charter and Cox. They are competing to own as much of the network as possible. Right now I can get phone service from my cable company (Charter) and SBC is working on giving you TV via the internet. It’s called “digital convergence” and it will only be a matter of time (10 years?) before all communications are carried over the net. The wireless spectrum will slowly be replaced by technologies like 802.11. So what will all global communications be worth in 10 years? I figure most of the companies will slug it out and only a few big players will be left. These companies will be worth trillions… more or less.

That's just the cost of the bandwidth... not the computers on the network.