Lots of internet cafes in the world use a large @ on their signs to suggest internet access. It seems more evocative for the general public.

yes, @ is used often but it also signifies email. (#) would represent the Internet or world wide web as a whole. It's supposed to symbolize a interconnected globe.

It'd be nice to see an argument for why it is important for the Internet to have a logo in the first place.

It would be a neutral symbol for the Internet. Do an image search for "internet logo" or "world wide web logo". You'll mostly find the Internet Explorer or Firefox icon or some weird icons that been around since the AOL era. These are used on countless websites and presentations every day due to a lack of a neutral alternative.

(#) seems like a logo for Twitter, not the Internet. How about :// as a logo then? Or why we even need one?

This one looks like disappointed smiley.

What a great reflection on the Internet.

What the logo is doesn't matter. We just all need to grab one out of the hat, say "that's good!", and move on.

The question really is, as Skoofoo says, why exactly we need a logo.

China uses 网吧 to refer to any internet (or gaming) bar. 网(wang) means net or network. 上网 means to go online... Phonetically they even often use 因特网.

So, in other cultures a character exists... besides, why not using @, or the wifi symbol which also suggests Internet access.

It makes no sense to use this in the first place.

What was wrong with the blue e?

everything is wrong with the blue e.

It seems wrong to use a symbol for something that's already pervasive. It would almost make more sense to create a symbol for "not the internet".

That is what we are using for my startup http://www.linkies.com. (#Linkies) is a bookmarking service for posts or web pages organized by hashtags. We use something very close to that to group hashtags together. We call them (#grashtags)

Why is this needed? Are people really so lazy that they can't just type "the Internet"?

y, n fact they r.

When would you use it?

I iz from da (#)

ridiculous