Arika Okrent speaking at the 2010 Esperanto-USA conference part 3

[WilhelmDrake]

I think the internet presents an excellent opportunity for Esperanto to prove it's practical usefulness.

The internet allows people from all over the world to communicate instantly, but at the same time, only if they happen to speak a common language. If the goal is to interact with people the world over then in all likelihood those we wish to communicate with will not speak our language by definition (which seems to be the entire point).  Esperanto makes this potential a reality.