How We Made the Internet

On March 9, 1999, U.S. Vice President Al Gore, made a statement during a campaign interview that, unbeknownst to him, would soon become the subject of somewhat humorous controversy. What followed were a bunch of newspaper articles, comic strips, and “memes” mocking the vice president, starting a new wave of political humor for his candidacy in the 2000 Presidential Election.

Ridiculous. Did Al Gore really just claim that he created the internet? Well, not exactly. What he had meant to say was that he was an integral part of putting forward legislation that made the internet so easily accessible and as powerful as it was in the 1990s. But because of his poor choice of words, naturally they were stripped of their context and even completely changed altogether. That answer wouldn’t be as interesting as telling everybody that Gore was bold enough to claim that he sat down, designed, and built the internet as a technology, all by himself. Gore’s lack of forethought with his remarks lead to an influx of embellishment and misinformation.

But what started off as mass media shenanigans ended up becoming a valid burning question: If Al Gore can’t take credit for creating the internet, then who can? Who Invented the Internet? Well, that’s a ridiculous question. I mean, obviously it’s Tim Burners Lee, the man who created the World Wide Web in 1989 and finally made it public in 1991. Clearly, he is the Founding Father of what we recognize today as the internet…right? Actually, no. There are so many things that we are taught in school as being “absolute truths”: Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, Ben Franklin discovered electricity, Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. But when it comes to a relatively recent technology like the internet, the answer is unclear. Who is our “guy” for the internet? Or “gal” even? As there are many women out there who could just as easily take the credit.

Deciding who is responsible for the internet has become a discussion of great debate. Depending on who you ask, the answer will be different but the reasons still just as valid. Perhaps the story behind who’s responsible is just as complicated as the invention itself, filled with so many moving parts that are only visible when seeing the big picture, and that includes a lot of US government intervention. If that’s the case, was Mr. Gore’s comment really that unreasonable? Could he unironically take credit for inventing the internet?

The reason why a question like this is so open-ended is because the internet itself is an open-ended technology. It wasn’t something that just appeared overnight. It was gradual and took literal generations to master. The internet is so complicated, that even we don’t fully understand it ourselves. We often use the terms “internet” and “world wide web” interchangeably, but they are very different things. In its simplest form, the “internet” is just a bunch of computers talking to each other, and the “World Wide Web” is the software we use to understand what those computers are saying. Now this may seem like some arbitrary distinction to make, I mean when someone says they “bought something on the internet,” we all know what they mean. But knowing the difference is crucial to understanding the internet and its history.

Google +: just kidding.

Beauty Flow by Kevin MacLeodLink:

All images and clips are created by me, in the public domain, licensed, under a Creative Commons license with attribution provided, or protected under Fair Use.

ENJOY THE PROGRAM.

[panqueque]

The "Gore bill" sounds metal as hell.

[huzzahs]

People mocked Al Gore for his comment, but look at how tough it is to pass any meaningful legislation that betters public education and libraries today. He deserves kudos

[wishdj]

Thanks!
Learned so much about the history of the internet in 22 minutes than I knew all my life. Likely the best video in all of Youtube on this topic.

[lamegrape]

If I remember correctly, Firefox was not a rebranding of Netscape. Rather, it was an different browser made by Netscape employees who left the company to start Mozilla. Great video, learned something new!

[kyanoangl_old]

As a socially awkward teen back then, I'd be a target of bullying/teasing just for my poor choice of words.

I feel you, Al Gore.

[panqueque]

I can't believe Al Gore single-handedly sat down and invented the internet. Amazing.

[SurenDrakensberg]

As someone who was born in 1971. It's been interesting to experience the real time development of the INTERNET. From not really understanding or appreciating the potential, to fascination, slow integration, access to endless amounts of knowledge, the promise of a united world, and now the destruction of individual liberties and lives. 😢

[s_ludge]

This is one of my favorite real life history stories, as someone who grew up on the internet it's always been so fascinating to me, although I'd admit that fascination has died in the last decade. Because of that it's always great as well to hear it again, and you did a great job as per usual in both your coverage and editing that I feel like I could share to people since it's not heavy into the complicated details. Thanks NationSquid.

[gnooshguhh]

The REAL internet was the friends we made along the way.

[mtalhad]

Simplified yet true to its original history. Well scripted and paced. Video editing is good too. I'm going to share this to a bunch of my peers! Keep going.

[realstormdancer]

You know it's top tier informative video when you learn more in it than in 5 years of IT high school and 3 years of IT University

[mikewheeler]

What an amazing documentary. I'm a technology engineer student and this stuff fascinates me. Also my monke brain thinks, internet is just phones 2.0. crazy to think how much information the CIA and other governments sent 'over the wire' and then later how much of a huge backend the actual internet has

[aromanticfranziskavonkarma]

okay almost completely unrelated but i keep misreading al gore's name as artificial intelligence gore

[blakedellinger]

Great video. NS really tackled a very complex topic and explained it so well.

[MarshalerOfficial]

Man, the Cold War brought to us some wild stuff that we take for granted nowadays

[patriautism]

Just so you lnow Al Gore never ever once said that he invented the internet. He said exactly "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system." By that he meant legislation for the internet. Which is 100 percent true.

[MaximNightFury]

He didn't invent the Internet, no, but what he did was very monumental in driving the Internet forward for everyone to access.

[strongbadman]

Had “great gig in the sky” stuck in my head for the rest of the video after it played and it honestly kinda gave me some deep existential feelings, just thinking about how much technology has evolved in such a relatively small amount of time. Great video

[cxctuses]

Hahaha, leave it to beaver is so great!! This was an interesting video, as I always thought it was Tim Berners Lee. Thanks for enlightening me on the origins of the Internet! Again, great video as always, you just keep outdoing yourself!! I love that you have a turntable as well, I never knew you were into records!

[Nathanator]

Awesome content as usual man! This taught me SO much about the internet and your voice and style of narration and editing is super engaging and mesmerizing, along with the little jokes you throw in throughout your videos! You’re my favorite channel and I’m glad you’ve been uploading more lately :)