# When did we get more than one Internet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 29, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103 "2009-05-29T23:46:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/21 "2009-05-30T22:38:00Z")
> [@kasuo](#): > > So they have them on computers now? Only the new ones with bigger tubes. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/22 "2009-05-30T22:40:20Z")
> [@Roadfood](#): > > [This article](http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/05/kris-allen.html?xid=rss-feed-todayslatest-Kris+Allen%3A+One+day+in+NYC) is the second time I’ve seen someone write “the Internets”. It can’t be a simple typo because the next sentence starts with “They are”. > > Have I missed something, or is it just another example of sloppy terminology? And for that matter, why would a cat even ask for a cheeseburger? ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/23 "2009-05-30T22:49:54Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > “The internet is a series of tubes” Sen. Ted Stevens. > > Maybe they added a couple more tubes? They would have had to have added a couple more series of tubes to make it more than one internet. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/24 "2009-05-30T23:17:16Z")
Now that you’ve gotten all the cute answers (and the accurate “it’s an idiot kind of thing” answer), a bit of history: Back when I was writing on the subject in the early 90’s, definitions were as follows: network: a bunch of computers connected to each other internet (lower-case i): a bunch of networks connected to each other Internet (capital I): the public TCP/IP internet that connected schools and businesses and subsumed usenet and other protocols. The distinction between capital-I Internet and lowercase-i internet has disappeared, but if you bring it back, there are indeed a bunch of internets. [get off my lawn mode] As tech-speak moves to the masses, fine distinctions are lost entirely. Like people calling those DSL devices “modems” even though they don’t modulate or demodulate. And don’t even get me started on grotesque misuse of the word “baud.” [/get off my lawn mode] ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/25 "2009-05-31T03:49:45Z")
Eh, I have heard of an Internet 2.0, which is now strictly used by academics. Since this is not GQ, no cite 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/26 "2009-05-31T09:47:25Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Now that you’ve gotten all the cute answers (and the accurate “it’s an idiot kind of thing” answer), a bit of history: > > Back when I was writing on the subject in the early 90’s, definitions were as follows: > > network: a bunch of computers connected to each other > > internet (lower-case i): a bunch of networks connected to each other > > Internet (capital I): the public TCP/IP internet that connected schools and businesses and subsumed usenet and other protocols. > > The distinction between capital-I Internet and lowercase-i internet has disappeared, but if you bring it back, there are indeed a bunch of internets. The “cute” answers were more accurate. References to the “internets” is all about Bush. You may be right about the history of the internets, but when people mention it now, it’s because of Dubya. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/27 "2009-05-31T17:02:08Z")
A few years back there was an MMA fighter that a lot of people were talking shit about online for not finishing fights. After finishing a fight, he got on the mic and started, "All you people on those internets . . . " He’s too stupid for it to have been a joke. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/28 "2009-05-31T18:17:34Z")
Not another internet, but isn’t there some new technology that is allowing a faster pipeline through the internet that isn’t yet available to everyone, or at least isn’t widespread? I recall reading that you can/will be able to download an entire Hollywood movie in something ridiculous like 3 minutes or something. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/29 "2009-05-31T18:19:20Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > The “cute” answers were more accurate. References to the “internets” is all about Bush. You may be right about the history of the internets, but when people mention it now, it’s because of Dubya. And as he said: > [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > As tech-speak moves to the masses, fine distinctions are lost entirely. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/30 "2009-05-31T18:49:45Z")
> [@](#): > > There’s one Internet for people with dial up > > One Internet for people with DSL 768 or less > > One Internet for people with T1 line > > One Internet for people with T3 line > > One Internet for people who’s cable limits download to 5gs a month > > One Internet for wireless > > There’s a whole bunch of internettin’ goin’ on > > And there’s one Internet that exists solely in one’s mind And One Internet to Bring them All, and in the Darkness Bind Them In the Land of Morder, where the Shadows Lie. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/31 "2009-05-31T20:20:24Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I’m quite partial to [“the internet is a series of n00bz”](http://erfworld.com/store/the-internet-is-a-series-of-n00bz-T-shirt.html) myself. The internet is a series of [tubas](http://thispublicaddress.com/tPA4/archives/2008/07/the_internet_is_a_series_of_tu.html). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/32 "2009-05-31T20:25:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And One Internet to Bring them All, and in the Darkness Bind Them > > In the Land of Morder, where the Shadows Lie. You know… I almost posted that yesterday. I’m glad someone did! ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/33 "2009-05-31T21:38:04Z")
Long before George W. Bush multiplied the internet, one of the Spice Girls pointed to a computer in a display window and said, “Ooh, can I have an internet?” ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/34 "2009-05-31T23:13:29Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Not another internet, but isn’t there some new technology that is allowing a faster pipeline through the internet that isn’t yet available to everyone, or at least isn’t widespread? > > I recall reading that you can/will be able to download an entire Hollywood movie in something ridiculous like 3 minutes or something. Are you thinking of the M-Bone? > [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > The internet is a series of [tubas](http://thispublicaddress.com/tPA4/archives/2008/07/the_internet_is_a_series_of_tu.html). So the SDMB’s own TubaDiva is actually an Internet guru? ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/35 "2009-05-31T23:23:02Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > [get off my lawn mode] > As tech-speak moves to the masses, fine distinctions are lost entirely. Like people calling those DSL devices “modems” even though they don’t modulate or demodulate. And don’t even get me started on grotesque misuse of the word “baud.” > [/get off my lawn mode] Talk baudy to me! ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103/36 "2009-06-01T06:26:16Z")
Wow, I gotta get out more. No, wait, I guess I gotta stay in more and use The Googles programs to look at maps of my ranches in the Internets. While listening to The Archies on my iPods Shuffles . . . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-get-more-than-one-internet/498103.md?page=1)