I had an interesting experience on Sunday afternoon here in New York City. I was visiting the home of my mother-in-law (by the way I have been married for nearly 35 years).

My mother-in-law wanted to show off her new 17-inch screen Toshiba notebook (she has just junked her ancient desktop system).

What you need to know is that Lola (my mother-in-law) reluctantly joined the computing set about 6 years ago. She basically uses AOL and enjoys playing a variety of computer games.

However she has just discovered e-commerce. When my wife and I arrived she had just finished ordering some books from Amazon.com and was finishing off a large order from a specialty candy Web site.

She has also discovered the power of search engines --- she told us about searching for her new computer and for information she needed about Venice, Italy.

So why am I writing this: Lola is an example of how consumers everywhere are turning to the Internet to get their information and to do their shopping. It struck me that my mother-in-law was a microcosm of what is happening in every home, not to mention what is happening in many businesses around the world.

It also made me glad that Jupitermedia is right in the middle of all of this change. And of course my mind linked right into the idea behind our new InternetPlanet trade show --- growing business online. A massive sea change is taking place that is affecting profits, non-profits and the daily life of most consumers.