A computer network called..."Internet"

Thanks go to Doug for pointing me to this little piece of history, a 1993 video clip from the Canadian Broadcasting Company's Prime Time News in which a revolutionary new way of communicating is described. Lots of funny little things here. The announcer never says "the Internet," but simply "Internet" (as though it were a person's name, like "Sandra".) A computer expert describes the restraint demonstrated by most users -- "One would think if you're anonymous you could do anything... [but there's] not a lot of cursing and swearing, not a lot of personal cuts, not a lot of put-downs." While this description may reflect the old Usenet newsgroup community ethos, today's Internet users reflect the full spectrum of American society. In some communities folks are nice to each other, in some communities they are not so nice. Perhaps the most charming moments in the video come when the announcer describes emoticons. "Isolated communicators of cyberspace have come up with little signs made up of punctuation marks. They come out sideways. Tilt your head left and you'll see a little smiley face that means 'I'm kidding' or 'I'm serious.'"

The question remains as to whether or not computers have become the "tools of the human spirit" this video clip predicts.