No, time has not ceased and space has not vanished, but life does seem to be moving rapidly that way. Telecommunications, satellites, computers, and fiber optics taken together are halving the cost of processing, storing, and transmitting information every eighteen months. The global village even has its own market square in the shape of the internet—a forum for commerce, information, entertainment, and personal interaction that makes previously undreamed of access to information available almost instantly and at extraordinarily low cost. Estimates suggest that 250 million people around the world use the internet already, with the number rising every day.