The Internet is a computer system architecture that has revolutionized methods of communications and commerce by allowing various computer networks around the world to connect. The internet provides a capability so powerful and general that it can be used for almost any purpose, supporting human communication via e-mail, chat rooms, newsgroups, forums, as well as in audio and video transmissions. The Internet emerged in the United States in the 1970s, but did not become visible to the general public until the early 1990s. By the beginning of the 21st century, approximately 6% of the world's population was estimated to have access to the internet. It is widely assumed that at least half of the world's population will have some form of access to the internet by the year 2010. Many experts believe that the Internet will continue to dramatically transform business as well as society.