Perhaps the image of the 20th Century is the atom. The human being as a solitary unit is a cornerstone of both democracy and capitalism.

But by connecting the planet in a web of communication and technology, the Internet threatens to change all of that.

The information revolution is not about computers but rather communications

"Ever since the Greek philosophers, Western civilisation has talked about the sovereignty of the individual. In other words, you are self-sufficient, and as an individual that is what you strive for in classic Western civilisation," said Shelley Morrisette.

But he added, "The Internet means that you have to be plugged into the network of other individuals."

Mr Morrisette works for Forrester Research, one of the largest US computer consultancies. He examines the impact of technology on our lives.

The Digital Decade

In 1994, with access to the World Wide Web, North America entered what Mr Morrisette terms the Digital Decade.

Over the next 10 years, 50% of consumers will adopt a digital lifestyle as technologies such as PCs, mobile phones and the Internet became part of their everyday lives.

Computer chips will become smaller and ubiquitous

You may not think that tapping on a computer is a very revolutionary act, but when 200 million people do it, it is.

It is the connected-ness of the Internet that will change our attitude not only towards ourselves but also to the world around us.

"This revolution is really not about computers. It's really about communication. Communication is the foundation of culture. It's the foundation of society. It's the foundation of our own identity, and that's what we're really messing with," said Kevin Kelley, editor of Wired Magazine.

This communications revolution will filter down to the objects in our everyday lives.

"We're not necessarily going to rearrange our beds and our living rooms. But I think we're going to be connected together, and it's going to change how we use them," Mr Kelley said.

You will be connected in many different ways: By e-mail, by phone, by having e-mail on your phone and video mail on your computer and in your car.

Jellybean PCs

But the objects that you own will also be connected.

American companies are developing what are known as jellybean PCs, which are tiny silicon chips that only cost a few cents and can be attached to anything from vegetables to clothing.

"The purpose is to make the object itself aware of what the object is, and it talks to any kind of device that speaks its language," Mr Kelley said.

For instance, a computer chip embedded in the hem of your shirt will communicate laundering instructions to the computer in your washing machine.

"Now, in the world of commercialisation, (the shirt) may also tell (the washing machine) its preferred laundry detergent," he added.

High-tech, high anxiety

If you find this connected world slightly frightening, you are not alone.

It is hard to know where your answers to a seemingly harmless online questionnaire about your likes and dislikes will travel on the Internet.

Recently, the online bookseller Amazon.com, began posting the most popular books by zip code and by company.

"There are these large databases out there that can pinpoint exactly who you are and what you are doing at all times, said Ira Schwarz of the Centre for Consumer Technology.

He added, "Secondly, there is the concern, 'what is this information going to be used for?"

Privacy concerns range from Big Brother-type surveillance and control that could possibly be carried out by governments, to receiving targeted telemarketing calls during dinner because a company knows you are home at that time.

Digital dissidents

Even more worrying is that this may cause some people to opt out of the revolution.

In addition to privacy and civil liberty concerns, some may fear a loss of individuality, which has been so prized in Western civilisation, said Mr Morrissette.

"A lot of psychoanalysts have found through looking at dreams - and doing qualitative research around people's dreams - that some individuals feel their sovereignty has been given up, that they are plugged into this network and this network is almost identifying who they are," he said.

As a result, a recent survey found that 21% of Americans wanted nothing to do with computers even if they were free.

The digitally disconnected

The Internet is decentralising power

Yet when the 'Net becomes universal, the disconnected could pay a heavy price, according to Tim Oren, an Internet economist.

"If the job market, for instance, moves strongly to the Internet, and one doesn't have firstly the access, and secondly the habits of thought and inquiry that would lead one to want access, that could be dangerous indeed for a society that hopes for upward mobility for people," Mr Oren said.

The shifting centres of power

So where does the power of lie in a network? The answer is everywhere.

There is no centre and no central control. No one will be able to have a stranglehold on information.

It will blur geographical boundaries and loosen the ties between a government and its citizens.

"The telecommunications revolution itself is being built not by nation states," said Mr Kelley of Wired magazine.

He used the example of human rights.

"Issues of human rights are, for the most part, not being engineered or leveraged by nation states, but by these para-state groups such as Greenpeace or Amnesty International. Those groups are some of the first and most effective at adopting this technology of decentralised networks," Mr Kelley said.

In the film 2001, HAL, the omniscient computer represents the nightmare future.

In fact though, the future is not the computer but the network and the estimated 700 million people that will be hooked up to it within seven years. And that almost certainly includes you and me.