[Air-l] Origin of the term "Internet" ?

Jeremy Hunsinger jhuns at vt.edu
Fri Mar 30 07:58:46 PDT 2007


On Mar 30, 2007, at 10:51 AM, James Whyte wrote:

> This discussion clearly exposes the power of ontological commitment  
> which leads to sanctioned inferences. A process that is benign in  
> casual conversation but dangerous in scholarly discourse.

the capitalization issue of no import, nor is it dangerous to  
scholarly discourse.
>
>   I assume that OII did so in the interest of scholarship and is  
> (more) correct in so doing.

I assume OII did it because at the time it was founded that was the  
fashion, and that it is still the fashion in some institutions, which  
is fine, however that something is the mode of operation does not  
imply any normative frame.
>
>   Parallel to this (small I) issue, is the definitional problem  
> that allows the term itself to be used outside the formal definition.

there is no specified formal definition, there are just a series of  
scholarly, popular, and dictionary definitions
>
>   In the end, for the purpose of scholarship, the Internet is a  
> network of networks with a cap I. Everything else is sociologically  
> bound and is not the Internet.

in the end there is no internet without the sociologically bound.




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