Michael Quinion’s always fascinating World Wide Words should have from 28 August 2004 an article on whether to capitalise the word Internet. (Issue 406 from 21 August 2004.) It seems Wired News has decided to lowercase that and similar words. Quinion opines:
… in public perception the Internet has changed from a device to a process … most people don’t think of themselves as Internet users. Instead, their mental focus is on what they’re doing—they’re getting information, sending e-mails to their friends, or downloading music—in just the same way that they think of the telephone. … And just as we don’t capitalise the words for media such as television, radio, mail, telephone, or newspaper, why should we capitalise Internet? The change, though minor in itself, is a cultural marker for a shift in public perception…
KnowIT by RSS
Add your Comment