There will come a day when all the online, newspaper and magazine editors who’ve insisted on capitalizing the “i” in internet for the last 15 years or so will try to evade responsibility for this. They’ll look colleagues in the face as they deny supporting it — “Who, me?” — when in fact they’re now enforcing one of the most outrageous and illogical style charades in editorial history.
The internet is a network of technological realms and pathways that enable the exchange of digitally-coded information. Just as the nation’s highway system is a network of elevated and land-topped concrete roadways that enable vehicles of all sizes to travel just about anywhere in the country. And yet nobody ever refers to the nation’s “Highway” system. And nobody writes about “Radio Waves.” Nobody refers to “Broadcast or Cable or Satellite Dish” television. And yet the N.Y. Times style charlatans insist, year after year after year, on the “Internet” spelling.
Every time I see this my face begins to redden and my teeth grind in rage. It’s spelled internet — no ifs, ands or buts. And I don’t want to hear any specious arguments in favor of sticking with the capitalization. It’s a moronic rule.