The debate over whether or not to capitalize the words “internet” and “web” has been raging for quite some time.
In 2004, Wired News declared that it would no longer capitalize either word. And the same would go for “net.” Their rationale was based on the idea that though “[t]rue believers are fond of capitalizing words, whether they be marketers or political junkies or, in this case, techies…in the case of internet, web and net, a change…was necessary to put into perspective what the internet is: another medium for delivering and receiving information. That it transformed human communication is beyond dispute. But no more so than moveable type did in its day. Or the radio. Or television.”
In 2007, Grammar Girl suggested that these words ought to be capitalized, because “[m]ost language experts believe the Internet is one big specific place that people visit.” Of course, she did mention that there is some disagreement over whether or not the Internet is one specific place.
Now in February of 2009, a writer for the Chicago Tribune blogged an appropriate answer to Grammar Girl’s question, saying “But, of course, it’s not a place at all. It’s an international network of computers — analogous to the interstate highway system, which does not take a capital letter, or the railroad, which does not take a capital letter. Another way to think of it is as a medium for transmission of information– like the airwaves, which does not take a capital letter, or satellites, which does not take a capital letter, or cable, which does not take a capital letter. We listen to the radio, not Radio.”
But still, the debate rages on even at the Speedplexer blog.