The high tech bubble was in°ated by myths of astronomical Internet tra±c growth rates. Yet although these myths were false, Internet tra±c was increasing very rapidly, close to doubling each year since 1997. Moreover, it continues growing close to this rate. This rapid growth re°ects a poorly understood combination of many feedback loops operating on di®erent time scales. Evidence about past and current growth rates and their sources is presented, together with speculations about the future. The expected rapid but not astronomical growth of Internet tra±c is likely to have important implications for networking technologies that are deployed and for industry structure. Backbone transport is likely.
