The remark about "Al Gore's internet" was unwarranted and rather juvenile, considering that the basis for this comment has been shown as false, for nearly a decade now.
Actually, this is FlyerTalk, not InsideFlyer but I don't mind commenting on your observation wherever you might post it.
I won't argue that it is likely juvenile but it it one of those phrases that has become part of today's lexicon and from which many, and I guess I have to include myself, have repeated it. If fact, if you were to Google "Al Gore invent Internet" you'd find more than 10,600,000 mentions of it on their search parameters of the Web. And while it is likely to have been proven false per your observation and others, even myself, it nonetheless has remained an common phrase, not really to defame Mr. Gore as you might infer, but rather the take an edge off an otherwise straight-laced conversation about something else related to the Internet. I myself applaud the man for his interest in global warming.
Here's the context from which you are referring:
"There is something unusual about all this. Usually, we'd see a "Premier pushback" and a mild outrage about sharing Premier benefits with outsiders. But strange as this may be, I surfed around the Web looking in on the early comments from Premier members about these new options and was stunned at the overall general acceptance of these changes. Not that I think that Al Gore's Internet is laden with keyboards with pitchforks, but in the past, products such as this would have surely raised the NIMBY rule. Here are just a few of the comments that I read:
"At some point we have to recognize that United needs revenue to stay in business, and that doing so may be at odds with our desire to have half a cabin to ourselves and a quick stroll through a metal detector without waiting in line first."
"We also have to recognize that United doesn't configure a 757 or 320 differently for different markets, and that there will be routes that are elite heavy and fill E+ while others will have a full dungeon and relatively-empty E+. It makes sense for United to more aggressively market E+ and various other amenities for those areas lighter in elite traffic."
"Thank god this won't dilute the upgrade waitlist."
"I personally don't think it will be very popular--except maybe for people who have two large suitcases and were going to have to pay out the @$$ anyway.""
In this, the use was simply a phrase used to balance the concept of keyboards and pitchforks. In an editorial sense, you'll often see editors use such word concepts to again balance and reframe the point. For instance, I've seen references of the word "Machiavellian" over and over again by many of the nation's leading editors. Their use would seem to indicate something that was untrustworthy and self-serving. Yet, if you were to chat with or poll most Machiavelli scholars, they would say that is not what this man was about. Nonetheless, it remains part of today's lexicon and in fair use by editors of many publications, though I haven't yet used the phrase.
So, just so you know, I certainly was not attacking Mr. Gore if that was your inference. Nor was I asserting anything that was true or false. But nonetheless, perhaps a little silly, I'm not seeing the harm enough to re-edit it back out. And thanks for the question, they remain a big part of my day and I appreciate them coming in.
The remark about "Al Gore's internet" was unwarranted and rather juvenile, considering that the basis for this comment has been shown as false, for nearly a decade now.
Good grief, show a sense of humor. Besides, what politician doesn't deserve grief for saying, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." Not only is this actual quote completely but it's also hilarious because of the "I took the initiative" portion.
Good grief, show a sense of humor. Besides, what politician doesn't deserve grief for saying, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." Not only is this actual quote completely but it's also hilarious because of the "I took the initiative" portion.
The computer protocol (a set of rules that specify how computers communicate) that is fundamental to most of the internet is called the TCP. In 1974, as a grad student at Stanford, I was on the team that produced the first implementation of the TCP.
In 2004, those of us who participated in this project as well as other early internet pioneers were honored by a plaque at the Stanford computer science department. When the woman in charge of producing the plaque called me to check on the spelling of my name, I asked, "Is Al Gore going to be on the plaque?"
The woman replied, "Why does everyone ask that?" so I told her the background.
The point I'm trying to make is that the Al Gore story is regarded as gentle, acceptable humor even among those of us who were intimately involved in the development of the net. If the people who have the most right to feel insulted aren't bothered, I don't think anyone else need worry either.
but it's also hilarious because of the "I took the initiative" portion.
