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It's Just the 'internet' Now?
This morning Wired News announced that 'web', 'net', and 'internet' will no longer be capitalized in their stories. Is this the next logical step after ditching 'e-mail' in favor of 'email' , or should the global computer network still be treated with a proper name? For more discussion, see Wikipedia, The Chicago Manual, and an article profiling Joseph Turow's de-capitalization efforts.
Can we please make that one word, like most of those who actually build them do?
I've been really annoyed by things like MS-Word that would always automatically capitalize the "i" in "internet". I never found a reason to capitalize works like internet, web, etc. unless grammar demanded it (like starting a sentence). The question now is, how long is it going to take the rest of the world to catch on.
I don't think it's possible to refer to the Internet without providing a 'the' in the front... is it? Otherwise, there are many possible interconnected networks you'd practically require a proper noun to differentiate...
It's like the ocean. The ocean is big, powerful, and impressive, and we owe our existence to it, but even still, we don't call it the Ocean, merely the ocean.
I think the internet is the same way.
Why? The simple answer is because there is no earthly reason to capitalize any of these words. Actually, there never was.
:)
Well there was never any reason to capitalize "net" for the simple fact that it is really 'net which is a shortened version of "Internet". I consider the Internet a specific place and thus deserving of capitalization.
If It's Capitalized, It Must Be Important.
There are a lot of things that are important that aren't capitalized. Take for example "air" and "water". Most people don't capitalize either one of those. I suppose there may be some groups out there like "wateries" or "airheads" that may refute my claims but they can write their own damn non-sense. I'd prefer they save it for 4/1/2005 though.
That it transformed human communication is beyond dispute. But no more so than moveable type did in its day. Or the radio. Or television.
Small nitpick here... If you are talking about "the radio" instead of radio there is a slight difference. Radio is talking about the medium where "the radio" is talking about the big box over in the corner of the living room that talks.
I will continue to refer to it as "Internet" as it is my all knowing God. Maybe that's why Google is capitalized?
people stop writing WEB when it's not an acronym or abbreviation.
Does it really matter?
Does the capitalization improve or impede understanding in any way?
English is a fluid language, constantly changing and slightly different everywhere.
It has different spelling pronounciation and accents everywhere. Despite the best hopes of the wannabe language police, english has and will continue to change.
I see the Internet as a place, like Amsterdam or Mars.
A proper name of place is capitalized, hence i capitalize the Internet accordingly.
Hivemind harvest in progress..
The Web is the World Wide Web. The web is what the spider lives in. The Net is the global TCP/IP network. The net is what the fish are caught in.
I find it amusing that uber hype-mongers Wired (sorry "wired") claim that there was never any need to capitalize, they probably are responsible for it in the first place...
Something that's on the Web can be said to be web-based.
However, I don't think the same works for "Internet." Especially since there's something called "Internet 2."
As far as 'net' goes, if you're talking about "on the Net" you'd capitalize on whether it's your LAN, or on the Internet.
But I do have one question.. Is it now TCP/ip?
--Welcome to the Realm of the Hawke--
Sigh... Another example of annoying brokenness in MS-Word. The non-capitalized "internet" referns to a network of networks. The "Internet" (capital) is a particular (global) instance of such a network.
Capitalization depends on whether the word is being used as proper noun or adjective. Adj. This internet connection is awesome. Noun. This connection to the Internet is awesome.
(a) Nobody cares. Nobody, most of all Wired (which tries to coin terms and screw with the language unsuccessfully on a very frequent basis) has the ability to just decree that everyone is going to change capitalization or spelling of a word. The includes dictionaries -- they just codify common usage.
(b) Insofar as there is a correct way of doing things, "Internet" should be capitalized. We use "the Internet". It is a proper noun (which, surprise surprise, should be capitalized) that refers to something quite different from "an internet" -- I can build "an internet" running IPX attaching a couple of networks, but "the Internet" runs IP and is a rather large entity that currently spans the world.
(c) I hate journalists that try to leave their mark on the world by affecting the language.
(d) Tell you what. I think that there's "no reason to capitalize 'Wired'" -- after all, there's another term, "wired", which exists, and surely we should just merge the two. So from now on, "Wired" can be referred to as "wired". Of course, the newly-redubbed "wired" people will probably take issue with this, as it's confusing and doesn't gain anything, and violates English rules, but I want to get my name out there on etymologies for mucking with a word. It's "wired" now. Oh, and "Tony Long", the editor pushing this? He can be "tony long", or just "long" for short.
May we never see th
That said... Dude, cmdrtaco! Why are you linking to a talk page from Slashdot? =b Now I've had to go and protect it from editing. Articles, sure, that's OK, but talk pages? This is new.
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
Google is a brand name. It should always be capitalized, just like Kleenex and Xerox.
No. Plenty of brands aren't capitalized, or not on the first letter (e.g. easyJet). Some are all-caps (SPAM); in fact the USPTO only lists brands in all-caps (because capitalization doesn't matter), except for logo's submitted by the owner. If you use your brand with no leading captital letter, that's all up to you; it doesn't bestow any more "brandiness" to a word to capitalize it.
SCO employee? Check out the bounty
So I take it you have the same objections to HDTV, MSNBC, PS2, BS, and others? It's not uncommon for a compound word to end up being represented by two letters in an acronym.
I'm going to go hook up my new HDT so I can play P2 and watch MNBC. This discussion is B.
It seems to me that all this de-capitalization business is a bit silly. It should be a moot point. Words in the English language are capitalized when: (a) they are used to start a sentence. (b) they are used as a "proper noun." The term "internet" without the capital 'I' is an "improper noun", i.e., normal noun. Traditionally, the improper noun form has been used to mean "a network of networks." However, when one is talking about *the* (commonly known) worldwide network of networks, overseen by some authorities with a documentable history; a proper noun "Internet" is not only possible, but proper! If you want to de-capitalize something, how about newspapers quit printing "West Texas" and do it right: "west Texas," as Texas is not seperated into two states the way, say, Virginia and West Virginia are. "Texas" is the only proper noun in the phrase "west Texas" ("west" isn't even a noun, it's an adjective in this case!) Why do I bother? Ppl r goeeeng 2 rite lke ths N teh footure newayzzz--'coz nobdy karzzz. Or worst, it'll be L33T.
You're right, and I was going to make the same point. But I guess it's fair to say that, in practice, internetworks aren't often referred to as "internets" any more, because of the inevitable confusion with the Internet. Anyway, I imagine most people who care about the difference would be able to figure it out from context.
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Your conclusion is valid but your reasoning is backwards.
The Internet is a proper noun referring to the worldwide public internet managed by the IETF. It is to distinguish this specific internet named the Internet from the private and restricted access internets that it should remain capitalised.
We still capitalize the Earth, Atlantic Ocean, and McDonalds. Just because something's world-known and basically ubiquitous doesn't keep it from being a proper noun.
~D
This sig has been enciphered with a one-time pad. It could say almost anything.
A lie is a lie.. Whether he said he invented the internet or said he was instrumental in its creation; both are lies. What is the difference?
Linux User #296508 Get Counted!
Actually, if you follow the link in this particular line of the slashdot article, you'll find Wired News's article on why they abandoned 'email' for 'e-mail' -- because 'e-mail' is grammatically correct, and 'email' is not, at least according to their reasoning. (It's actually a pretty good article, and one I read years ago.) Wired News did this ostensibly because the medium has "grown up" and the stylistic rules for the publication should reflect this. Or something.
Were one to read the slashdot article without following the link, you'd think that Wired dumped the hyphen from 'e-mail,' when in fact they didn't dump the hyphen at all -- rather, they started using it. This usage agrees with Webster and the OED and various other style guides in the industry. The previous use of 'email' without the hyphen was what they got rid of.
Personally, I don't care if people capitalize 'internet' or not. I prefer to capitalize it in most of my writing, because the Internet is a thing, a unique entity unto itself, and deserves to be considered a proper noun. It's not quite the same thing as television, which is a more nebulous and abstract concept (the word could describe the technology in general, the broadcast standard, the hardware used to display the broadcasts, or the programming that is being broadcast).
Are we also going to start lower-casing acronyms?
It seems that everything that requires a bit more thinking or complexity, even if it's trivial, gets simplified. That is why we no longer have beautiful architecture, furniture, et cetera with ornaments, but rather super-simple, utilitarian everything.
Lame.
Simpy
There is no controversy. This guy is not qualified to be an editor if he thinks he can just randonly decide not to capitalize proper nouns because he thinks his personal opinions on technology trends should get the English usage rules for everyone else.
Without DNS and ICANN there would be no Internet. The Internet refers to a very specific body of technology with a very specific history and operation. There is no way in hell you can say that this is not a proper noun just because it is commonly used.
I thought the point was that my 192.168.1.0/24 behind my linksys access point is "an internet". The 66.35.250.0/24 slashdot is on is "an internet" (unlike mine, a publicly routeable one). An internet is any network that uses, surprise surprise, the "internet protocol".
What you are talking about is an intranet, not an internet. The Internet is the connection of multiple networks to each other. It is a network of networks, thus it sits between other networks and earns the inter- prefix. Intra- means within one's own logical grouping. A corporate network, Slashdot's server farms, and your person home network are intranets because they are a network of machines within one logical organization.
This is why there can be only one Internet unless you make a completely separate other network between networks that doesn't talk to the first one at all. That's very unlikely to happen until we start building colonies on other worlds, and we'll probably have slow, laggy connections between them even then. I see no reason to decapitalize the Internet since there can be only one. (No Highlander jokes, please.)
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Al Gore's exact quote is this:
"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."
OK. He didn't say "invented", but he didn't say anything about securing funding for the internet either. Gore used the word created, which is defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as:
Main Entry: 1create
Pronunciation: krE-'At, 'krE-"
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): created; creating
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin creatus, past participle of creare; akin to Latin crescere to grow -- more at CRESCENT
transitive senses
1 : to bring into existence
2 a : to invest with a new form, office, or rank b : to produce or bring about by a course of action or behavior
3 : CAUSE, OCCASION
4 a : to produce through imaginative skill b : DESIGN
intransitive senses : to make or bring into existence something new.
The bottom line - Gore was claimed that the internet was created as the result of his initiative. While he may have contributed on a political level to its creation, that's not what he said, and his statement can readily be interpreted as him attempting to take more credit than he was properly entitled to. The "smear" has a basis in fact, if only because Gore didn't say what he later said he had meant to say.
And it was funny. It's the same sort of thing as Dan Quayle mispelling "potatoe". The statement was a mistake that made Gore look stupid and egotistical. The right capitalized on it in the same manner that the left capitalizes on Bush's mistatements and malapropisms.
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"The Internet" is the NAME of a single computer network. There are other networks with names, like Fidonet, Bitnet, Arpanet, etc, but most of them are not around anymore. Saying that it is no more a proper noun than car, refrigerator, or restaurant is simply wrong.
If you had named your fridge "Old Whiny", your car "Betty", and your restaurant was named "The E-Coli Farm" it WOULD be correct to say:
"Old Whiny is broken and the food is bad, so let's jump in Betty and go to The E-Coli Farm." (I skipped the food because few people name individual items of food.)
That the The Internet happens to be a name in definite form does not make it any less of a name, just like The Netherlands is still the name of a country, and The Rocky Mountains is still the name of a mountain chain. (Note that "a rocky mountain" is something entirely different - just like "an internet.")
Capitalization of proper nouns exists to increase comprehension. The Internet was named that way because it was unique. There were, agreed, many inter-networks, but the Internet was the "mother of all internets" as it aimed to connect them all into one global inter-network.
Corporations have intranets, but they may also have inter-networks with various vendors and customers -- these may not always be part of the Internet. So, as long as it is possible to have an internet that is not the Internet, the proper version should be capitalized.
Wired is merely hoping to be ahead of the curve in suggesting that it won't be long before all internets are part of the Internet -- and then it won't matter if the term is capitalized at all.
We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex—but Congress can. – Cullen Hightower
No that's just Bush's title.
Nope. I beg to differ. There is a big difference between "an internet" and "the Internet"--the former being a general term describing inter-networked computers; the latter describimg the entity that evolved out of Darpa's network which we all currently use to exchange email, surf the web, etc. There are countless "internets" around the world, but there is only one "Internet".
It's similar to the German "autobahn" which translates to "motorway" but the "Autobahn" is a specific network of roadways.
And who made Wired magazine the technical grammar police? Just becaus they think it's cool doesn't make it correct.
My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
How many refrigerators, cars, and restaurants are there in the world? None stand out enough to have a proper name. The Internet does. There's only one global internet and it certainly stands out amongst other networks. Thus the Internet.
So, I guess when the aide to our (then) Prime Minister called Mr Bush a moron, she was just addressing him by his title....
I make a reasonable middle-class wage by going to work and not spamming blogs with scams.
Technically, there's no such thing as an 'intranet' in my book. The 'intranet' word is a non word dreamed up by some tosser in marketing. (I got a telephone call from the new 'Web Manager' (another common type of tosser) the other day. Introduced himself, "Hi, I'm new here". Wanted to know my email address (everyone where I work has an email address of the form firstname.lastname@domain.tld!), said he couldn't find my details on the 'intranet'. I wrote him off as a tosser right there - he'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes!)
You get two types of networks. a 'Local Area Network' - a bunch of hosts wired together with switches and hubs, all in the same collision domain. When you join a bunch of LANs together with routers, you get an 'internetwork', commonly abbreviated to 'internet'.
The biggest and best known 'internet' is the 'Internet'.
We agree, Wired's usage is wrong - lower case 'internet' means the office WAN, nothing more.
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