By 2020, Internet users will keep their data "mostly in the cloud," using Web-based programs and remote servers, and not on their home or work computers, according to a new survey.

Desktop computers will continue to survive, but play less of a role in many people's lives, said 900 Internet experts interviewed by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University in North Carolina.

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Today, Pew said, "the number of cloud users has grown; there are 500 million people sharing friendships 'in the cloud' on Facebook, and many millions are using the cloud every time they access a Hotmail or Gmail account for e-mail, store browser bookmarks online, maintain a blog on WordPress, or store, link to and view videos and photos on YouTube, Hulu and Flickr."

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