488 private links
Oct 29, 2019
Marlor_AU Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius 20y 6,800
Rector said:
LordEOD said:
Did Al Gore Say ‘I Invented the Internet’?"Despite the multitudinous derisive references to the supposed quote that continue to be proffered even today, former U.S. vice president Al Gore never claimed that he “invented” the Internet, nor did he say anything that could reasonably be interpreted that way."
Al Gore never said that he invented the internet. He said he created the internet. See direct quote above.
Gore was the driving force behind legislation that opened up various agency-specific networks and united them to create the precursor to today’s internet. Without this legislation, the siloed networks would have continued developing in parallel. From Kahn and Cerf (linked above):
“As far back as the 1970s Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship. Though easily forgotten, now, at the time this was an unproven and controversial concept. Our work on the Internet started in 1973 and was based on even earlier work that took place in the mid-late 1960s. But the Internet, as we know it today, was not deployed until 1983. When the Internet was still in the early stages of its deployment, Congressman Gore provided intellectual leadership by helping create the vision of the potential benefits of high speed computing and communication. As an example, he sponsored hearings on how advanced technologies might be put to use in areas like coordinating the response of government agencies to natural disasters and other crises.
As a Senator in the 1980s Gore urged government agencies to consolidate what at the time were several dozen different and unconnected networks into an "Interagency Network." Working in a bi-partisan manner with officials in Ronald Reagan and George Bush's administrations, Gore secured the passage of the High Performance Computing and Communications Act in 1991. This "Gore Act" supported the National Research and Education Network (NREN) initiative that became one of the major vehicles for the spread of the Internet beyond the field of computer science.”
If the guys who created the protocols that drive the internet are happy to credit Gore as the administrative driving force behind it, then who can argue with that?
