Chrissy Miklacic
1 HN recommender · recommended in 8 months, 2016–2022
1:27 · 905K views · Jan 28, 2015
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.
Used as a stock example of mainstream bafflement at new technology, often invoked in crypto debates.
8 comments from Hacker News
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
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 those cases, you could question why "on a computer" matters. Who needs email when there are phonecalls? Who needs the Web anyway when there is email? Who needs online dating sites when there are matchmakers? Nathan Myrhvold at Microsoft told people at Excite that "search is not a business". Economist Paul Krugman wrote that by 2005, it would become clear that the Internet's effect on the economy is no greater than the fax machine's. Well, these smart contracts are programmable, and you program against one widespread platform, like JVM or in this case EVM. That's a huge benefit. You can have programmable money, programmable elections, without having to deal with thousands of APIs, or as you are saying "normal" physical currency. Governments in fact also want to phase out cash, and even bank
> 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 something that can liberate and help so many people, worldwide. Even if they have the capacity to understand it, it's clear that many here haven't done their homework and are relying on second or third-hand knowledge (or at best, outdated information) to form their opinions. Despite their hubris and narcissism, they're no better than "the general population" on understanding this.
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
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.