The Internet? To capitalize or not capitalize? That is the question!

That goes without saying David.

On the third hand, the necessity of an article doesn't seem to determine the properness of a noun. The "United States of America", the "American Civil Liberties Union", and the "National Rifle Association" are all proper nouns that require an article before them.

Why would you follow that rule when you spell whatever way you want?

Inquiring minds want to know why you care so much.

INTERNET SHOULD BE LOWERCASED NOW

By Danny ''My Middle Name is Patience'' Bloom (1949-2032) Just can't let go until (lower) case is solved. SMILE! but yeh, everyone, i got a sense of humour on this too! Sure, time to move on. After we win in court! KIDDING!

July 18, 2011

Back in 2004, Tony Long told readers of Wired magazine's website that "effective with this sentence, Wired News will no longercapitalize the "I" in internet." He also informed them, also in that 2004 note, that "at the same time,Web becomes web and Net becomes net." Why did he go out on a limb in 2004 on lowercasing internet?

Thesimple answer was then -- and is now, in 2011 -- because there wasand is no earthly reason to capitalize the word, he says today, 8 years later. True believers, of course, are fond of capitalizing words, whetherthey be marketers or political junkies or, in this case, techies. IfIt's Capitalized, It Must Be Important.

Long's decision on lowerccasing internet back in 2004 when he was WiredNews' copy chief the decision wasn't made lightly,and he believes today that he was right then, and even more so some eight yearslater. Still, most newspapers and news websites in America stillcapitalize the word.

At the time, Long felt strongly that a change in Wired News' house stylewas necessary to put into perspective what the internet was then andis even more so now: just another medium for delivering and receivinginformation. That it transformed human communication is beyonddispute. But no more so than moveable type did in its day. Or theradio. Or television.

And American newspapereditors once capitalized Radio and Television. Long felt then and feels even more so today that by lowercasinginternet, Wired News was simply giving the medium its proper due. Andyet in the ensuing years, not much has changed on this side of theAtlantic.

In Britain, yes, internet is routinely written inthe lowercase form. Do the Brits know something about the internetthat we don't know? Or are American copyeditors just beingstubborn? Some editors, of course, still have mixed feelings about this issue,but many are now leaning towards -- but not committed to --lowercasing internet. Ask editors at the New York Times and AP and even here? Will there be a new press release on this issue soon?

American blogger Tom Blumer makes sense when he says he contemplateslowercasing the word: "Is it a place (the big web in the sky)? Not really. Is it a specific entity? Again not really."

On the other hand, Tony Long realizes that some people still feel that theinternet is a specific network and therefore deserves a capital.He says he's with the Brits on this: it's time to go lowercase.

Could it be that the American media is holding out against lowercasingthe Internet because they just don’t want to be seen as downgrading AlGore’s invention, as Blumer quipped on his blog the other day?

In the end, everyone knows know that things are trending down and thehandwriting is on the wall on this issue.

Tony Long was right then and he's right now.

It should be just the 'internet' now

OPED commentary

By Tony Long

San Francisco -- Back in 2004, I told readers of Wired magazine's
website that "effective with this sentence, Wired News will no longer
capitalize the "I" in internet."

I also informed them, also in that 2004 note, that "at the same time,
Web becomes web and Net becomes net."

Why did I got out on a limb in 2004 on lowercasing internet? The
simple answer was then -- and is now, in 2011 -- because there was
and is no earthly reason to capitalize the word.

True believers, of course, are fond of capitalizing words, whether
they be marketers or political junkies or, in this case, techies. If
It's Capitalized, It Must Be Important.

My decision on lowerccasing internet back in 2004 when I was Wired
News' copy chief the decision wasn't made lightly,
and I believe that I was right, and even more right some eight years
later. Still, most newspapers and news websites in America still
capitalize the word.

At the time, I felt strongly that a change in Wired News' house style
was necessary to put into perspective what the internet was then and
is even more so now: just another medium for delivering and receiving
information. That it transformed human communication is beyond
dispute. But no more so than moveable type did in its day. Or the
radio. Or television. And American newspaper
editors once capitalized Radio and Television.

I felt then and I feel even more so today that by lowercasing
internet, Wired News was simply giving the medium its proper due.And
yet in the ensuing years, not much has changed on this side of the
Atlantic. In Britain, yes, internet is routinely written in
the lowercase form. Do the Brits know something about the internet
that we don't know? Or are American copyeditors just being
stubborn.

Some editors, of course, still have mixed feelings about this issue,
but many are now leaning towards -- but not committed to --
lowercasing internet.

American blogger Tom Blumer makes sense when he contemplates
lowercasing the word: "Is it a place (the big web in the sky)? Not
really. Is it a specific entity? Again not really."

On the other hand, I realize that some people still feel that the
internet is a specific network and therefore deserves a capital.
I'm with the Brits on this: it's time to go lowercase.

Could it be that the American media is holding out against lowercasing
the Internet because they just don’t want to be seen as downgrading Al
Gore’s invention, as Blumer quipped on his blog?

In the end, everyone knows know that things are trending down and the
handwriting is on the wall on this issue.

----

Tom Long is a former copy desk chief at Wired News

It still takes about one and a half seconds for a signal to travel one way between the earth and the moon, and depending on the relative positions, anywhere from 15 to 40 minutest between the earth and Mars. Can't get around the exigencies of light speed, Boss . . .

Enquiring minds want to know why it has to be men. Can't you and Chai and Wolf Woman deal with this?

Tony Long gets paid to write that **** and hes plumb our of ideas, so hes doing some retreads.
We dont spell it harbour or call it a bonnet. That's for you and we quietly smirk.
Were already past the Inetrnet and are into the HYpernet and the Abyssalweb.

Are we also supposed to capitalize IP links?

"From the opinion page of the Christian Science Monitor"

That is like saying, from the opinion page of the Retarded Intelligence Monitor.

Who really cares if something is capitalized or not? I sure as hell don't...

It is one of the countries best papers, if you exclude the religion section. As for opinions they're, well, opinions.

But seriously, should we be concerned about weather or not a word is capitalized or not? Why? Aren't there more important issues to be discussing? It seems like something used to distract people from the actual pressing issues. The article sounds more like deflection rather than meaningful.

Suddenly, we agree - regarding the capitalization, anyway.

We have bigger fish to fry.

Internet is already perfectly fonetic; no need to change it.
Most English words r already perfectly fonetic. Only a small percentage r not.





David

Yes . . . you're right ! ! !

More important things, such as whether or not weather and whether should have separate spellings to distinguish the two wods . . .

Set? You just confused him with you wonderful new avatar. Threw him for a loop! Or is it through him for a loop?

Threw him in the bushes . . . we're hiding in the bushes . . .

just like it should be president obama, prime minister harper, god, jesus, capitalization is a waste of time