[SIGCIS-Members] Annals of Invention: The Internet

[Thomas Haigh]

Hello everyone,

Another example of the aggressively creative use of IT history to further an
agenda, this time in a Wall Street Journal editorial. 

In his column, "Who Really Invented the Internet," Gordon Crovitz admits
that "The federal government was involved, modestly, via the Pentagon's
Advanced Research Projects Agency Network" but claims that "But full credit
goes to the company where Mr. Taylor worked after leaving ARPA: Xerox." In
fact, argues Crovitz, the government's main contribution was to get in the
way and hold up progress for decades.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444464304577539063008406518.ht
ml

I read the Journal with pleasure when travelling, as it is a staple of
hotels and airport lounges, but turn the editorial pages quickly so as not
to read something that will cause a violent reaction and spoil my good mood.
So I'm not the most impartial judge, but there is perhaps something
unusually blatant in the ideological spin here.

Fortunately the basics of Internet history are pretty well documented, at
least for those who understand the difference between Internet and Ethernet.
Crovitz is nicely debunked by Farhad Manjoo at Slate, and I suspect by
various others in the 800 comments the op-ed has so far attracted.
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2012/07/who_invented_the
_internet_the_outrageous_conservative_claim_that_every_tech_innovation_came_
from_private_enterprise_.html.

Tom