Did Al Gore invent the internet?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Can anyone direct me to where he was quoted as saying he invented the internet? I have heard this quote/misquote often but never knew the source.

thanks,
rubes

RUBES: the only candidate in Minneapolis endorsed by Satan

2

Hey Rubes – while the source is a far-right political Web site, it appears correct, anyway. From Americans for Tax Reform:

“During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.” — Albert Gore on CNN’s ‘Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer’ (March 9, 1999)."

Of course Gore didn’t “invent” the Internet. He was however, part of the group of politicians that passed legislation to help move its growth along.

A nice history is available at Hobbes’ Internet Timeline.

3

Thanks baglady. I’ll be perusing those sites a little later

4

Did you see Dubbya’s acceptance speech last night?
After a bunch of “If my opponent had been there when…it would’ve been…” rhetoric, he said “If he’d been there when the internet was invented…[uproarious laghter & applause for 5 minutes or so]”

5

One thing I’ve heard, don’t know if it’s true, is that Gore did coin the phrase “Information Superhighway”.

6

You’re quite right, blockhead!

According to the entry in dictionary.com:

information superhighway

(Or “Infobahn”, “Info Strada”) The name coined by US Vice-president Al Gore in the early 1990s for the emerging high-speed global communications network capable of carrying voice, data, video and other services around the world. These services will use satellite, copper cable, optical fibre, cellular telecommunications and be accessible via set-top boxes or suitably equipped computers.

7

No, no, no. It was Jorge Luis Borges. He quite literally dreamed it up.

8

[AP, March 11, 1999]

I don’t know whether you want to call that “backpedaling” or “clarification”. It is true that ARPAnet had been around for a while before that, but ARPAnet ain’t the internet.

9

>> The name coined by US Vice-president Al Gore in the early 1990s

I understand he used the term often and helped popularize it but that he did not invent it.

As for the Internet itself, it was not “invented” by any one person, much less Gore.

10

The Washington Monthly’s April issue covered this and other principal Gore ‘claims’ (e.g. Love Canal, Love Story) that have been stretched out of recognition by not only the wingnuts, but by the mainstream press and opposing politicians.