1994: "Today Show": "What is the Internet, Anyway?"
Why Hacker News recommends it
Used as a stock example of mainstream bafflement at new technology, often invoked in crypto debates.
What it is
A 1994 Today Show clip in which hosts puzzle over what the Internet is and how to say the at-sign in email addresses. It is a short archival piece from the early days of the web.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2016 to 2022.
What Hacker News said
Recommends rmatt2000 · 2022-09 · on “Are You Ready for the Internet? (1994) [video]”
Here is one of my favorite videos from the early days of the web. Two popular morning television hosts discuss the at-symbol and ask "what is internet, anyway?" [this video]
Cites kristopolous · 2016-04 · on “AP Style alert: Don’t capitalize internet and web any more”
Here's another instance of this verbaige on CNN in 1993: [LINK] ... And another: [LINK] . This talk show even commented on this exact difference listening to their own archives: [LINK] And another [this video] I provided 6 separate instances spanning 2 countries... This is not false information. There's 5 videos and a photo from a book. I have two more books with this usage if people want and I can dig up articles from newspapers too if needed. In fact, there was a drive in late 93, early 94 to actively discourage this variation from being used. I can also dig that up.
Cites nmj · 2017-12 · on “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (2008) [pdf]”
You managed to cram so much wrong into a post it's unbelievable. Let's start with your 'off by one' address scare tactic. Bitcoin addresses contain a built-in check code, so it's generally not possible to send Bitcoins to a mistyped address. [LINK] Ecological concerns? A global, nacent value exchange system uses a little more than the total electricity of holiday lights. In fact many miners use cheap unused energy that would be otherwise costly to build infrastructure to sell normally. [LINK] Too confusing? Seems familiar. Here's a video from 1994 with some talk show hosts confused about 'internet'. Just watch this, please. [this video]
Cites rawtxapp · 2021-04 · on “Police search cryptocurrency trading firm after Turks say they were scammed”
Internet was pretty complicated in the 90s as well, example: "What is the internet, anyway?"[1]. Things are becoming more and more intuitive by the day and I expect that to continue. 1: [this video]
Cites rawtxapp · 2021-07 · on “Ask HN: How aware are you about building decentralised software on blockchain?”
Maker already has thousands of vaults, so clearly people do know what it is. I've never had an online loan application work, always had to go to their branch or call them which is a lot more work than installing one browser extension called MetaMask. A lot of these complaints remind me of the time when all the newspapers were writing about how internet is never gonna succeed because x, y, z[1]. There was a time where email was a "complex" thing, you can find out videos of news anchors trying to understand the "@" [2]. 1: [LINK] 2: [this video]
Cites rglover · 2022-06 · on “Major crypto lender Celsius freezes withdrawals as markets tumble”
> This perspective is far from universal. It doesn't need to be universal. The need for personal computers wasn't universal when Steve Jobs was running around Silicon Valley selling the Apple I in the 70s. They didn't even understand email in the 90s: [this video] . Look at us now. > The vast majority of the general population is nowhere near this level of technical proficiency. Right. Just like all technology, that's our responsibility as "the nerds." We take something that's complex and distill it down into something that's easily digested by people with limited or no technical aptitude. --- I find it deeply alarming that the supposed technical elite that wander this site are so averse to somet
Cites EGreg · 2022-11 · on “Chief scientist of major corporation can’t handle criticism of the work he hypes”
Well, that sounds exactly like what people said about all the other technologies that were "on a computer". Watch this exchange, for instance, between Bill Gates and David Letterman... about "this internet thing" [LINK] Or the Today show wondering what the point is: [this video] Technology empowers individuals and smaller communities. That's what it does throughout history. Personal computers. Personal printers. Now you can send email instead of relying on a centralized post office. VOIP disrupted Ma Bell monopolies in our lifetimes, instead of $3 a minute phone calls you can now do full videoonferencing for free. The Web instead of gatekeepers at radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, etc. In all of