They say everyone gets The Economist, but no one reads it. Maybe because it’s part of the data deluge they talked about on the cover of their February 25 issue, a headline that convinced me to buy the issue and add their 16-page report to my own personal data deluge. I like having printed copies laying around, but you can save $6.99 and click here to get the full report.

Among the nuggets of info you’ll discover when you do:

• By 2013 the amount of traffic flowing over the internet annually will reach 667 exabytes, according to Cisco, a maker of communications gear.
• Wal-Mart, a retail giant, handles more than 1m customer transactions every hour, feeding databases estimated at more than 2.5 petabytes—the equivalent of 167 times the books in America’s Library of Congress.
• According to a 2008 study by International Data Corp (IDC), a market-research firm, around 1,200 exabytes of digital data will be generated this year.

There’s all sorts of fun facts like these sprinkled throughout this report, which provides a fascinating contextual overview for the ocean of information we’re swimming in daily. It’s well worth reading … when you can manage to get your eyes above the waterline and find the time to do so.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 11:03 am and is filed under This 'n' That.