The NEXT billion Internet users

And, again from Today’s Toronto Star [December 10, 2007]:
How the next billion will reshape the Internet
by Michael Geist
It’s worth thinking about. With about 1 billion users now, the Internet user population is expected to double over the next ten years. What will this do to the web and its culture?
Geographically:
China will pass the US as the largest user within a year.
Africa is the fastest growing region.
India and Brazil will add another 200 million over the next decade.
Hmmmm.
The next billion will likely differ demographically in many ways:
Language and languages (multilingualism)
Different cultural and societal views
Changing legal frameworks like free speech, privacy, and copyright.
Hardware that access the internet since some don’t have legacies to protect.
Literacies
Hmmmm. Hard one to plan for if you engage in a global market!
Then again, my hometown seems to be a lot like the world at large.
Stephen