Microsoft Hatred FAQ

[John W. Kennedy]

joe at invalid.address wrote:
> "John W. Kennedy" <jwkenne at attglobal.net> writes:
> 
> 
>>Michael Heiming wrote:
>>
>>>Let's not forget about the Internet, they invented together with
>>>Al Gore and of course the wheel!
>>
>>No fair picking on Al Gore. All he ever claimed was that he was the
>>Congressional point man for the "Information Superhighway", which he
>>was.
> 
> 
> Well, what he said was
> 
>   "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the
>    initiative in creating the Internet."
> 
> What you say he did is what he actually did, but what he said gives a
> different impression. I don't think he's careless or stupid, so I
> think he said that in order to create the impression in the minds of
> the people listening to the interview that he's responsible for the
> internet. 

For "the Internet" as 99% of the American people comprehend it, he /was/ 
largely responsible, on the political end. The fact that the 
"Information Superhighway" turned out to be implemented as a massive 
explosion of the former ARPANet was an unforeseeable accident of 
history, resulting from the coincidental timing of the "Information 
Superhighway" initiative, the introduction of the Web, and (to some 
degree) the ARPANet worm.

-- 
John W. Kennedy
"The pathetic hope that the White House will turn a Caligula into a 
Marcus Aurelius is as naïve as the fear that ultimate power inevitably 
corrupts."
   -- James D. Barber (1930-2004)