But with that speed comes consequences (there are always consequences for having the most or fastest of anything). The need for speed has turned some of the youngsters into addicts; crazed enough to earn their way into "boot camps" of sorts to shake the Web monkeys off their backs. As far back as 2007, South Korea knew it had a serious problem.
"Inmates" at the Jump Up Internet Rescue School "are pushed over assault courses and learn to ride horses, as well as being given therapy workshops on more creative pursuits such as pottery and drumming.
But the aim is not to wean them off drugs, alcohol or crime, but on their obsessive use of computers in a country with almost universal Internet access."
In South Korea, where 90 per cent of homes have high-speed broadband connections and some online gameplayers have died from exhaustion after playing for days on end, police have found a new wrinkle in the virtual world or virtual worlders.
According to CNN, police arrested the parents of a toddler who starved to death while the pair were glued to raising a virtual child online.
The 3-month-old daughter was fed once a day between epic stretches in a local Internet cafe, where they were raising a virtual child in the fantasy role-playing game.
Prius Online is a 3-D game in which players nurture an online companion, Anima, a young girl with mysterious powers who grows and increases her skills as the game progresses.
Apparently the couple had lost their jobs and used the game as an escape from reality, especially after the birth of their premature baby.
It may be wise to keep an eye on the people of the peninsula to see what might be coming down the road toward us.
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