Even as the printing press became common-place, the need for large libraries and clear organization of all the new information made available further increased. And as information became easy to get - the right information further increased in demand! This may seem counter-intuitive, but this is true for most innovations. As any invention/product becomes common-place, it finds increasing usage in general society and an entire industry develops around this new invention/product.
This phenomenon occurred around information as well - with easy access leading to increasing use of diverse information in general society, and an information industry developed and prospered. Many millionnaires were created amongst those who took advantage of this developing industry.
The Internet has brought up a new revolution in the worlds of information access and delivery, allowing every individual to participate in information creation, gathering and dissemination - apart from being the consumer of the information.
This has led to the creation of new wealth creation opportunities as the world tries to:
a) Organize the information available on the Internet - whether it be through massive efforts like Google, or by individuals trying to provide a one-stop resource for information in a niche area.
b) Provide trusted sources of data - With the reduced importance of the big brand name sources on the Internet and availability of multiple sources of information - TRUST has become a watchword. Any website that is able to deliver information that readers can trust, and can especially recommend other resources which can in turn, be trusted - provides a very clear value-add to its readers. This is the equivalent of word-of-mouth recommendation.
c) Unearths hard-to-find, quality information - Search Engines are the glue that allows folks to search all this information on the web. However, Search Engines have their limitations as websites become savvy about designing for certain keywords - and users increasingly stop looking for results beyond Page 1 or 2 - some high quality information remains buried. So websites that focus on a niche area and deliver plenty of links to high quality resources in a certain area will be highly valued by visitors.
d) Application of all the new information - This is an old-school opportunity - applying all this new-found information in real-life - either your own or to someone else's life or business. There is a ton of information available on the 'Net that can seriously improve your life, career, business, money and so on. However, applying and optimizing this information for your best use is not easy. It will require new requirements to be met if society is to take full advantage of all the available information. As examples: AdSense optimizing consultants, Internet Marketing consultants, Search Engine optimizers are some of the positions available relating to the 'Net.
We have just barely touched upon how the rise in information accessibility is leading to an increasing amount of wealth creation to occur around this phenomenon called the Internet. This revolution is yet young with barely 10 years under its belt. Recognizing and acting upon the large shift in wealth creation that has already occurred and promises more will directly benefit your net-worth.