Meryl's Notes Blog

Wow! Wired has proclaimed It’s Just the ‘internet’ Now. Yet, I have Wired Style, which justifies capitalizing each one. Heck, even the book says, “The Net (also initial capped).”

Wired says, “The simple answer is because there is no earthly reason to capitalize any of these words. Actually, there never was.”

So, does that mean the magazine admits it is wrong and the book is wrong?

Wait! I bet I know why this is happening! It’s releasing a new edition of the book and it wants us to replace our outdated books, right? There is no mention of a new edition in Amazon, perhaps it is a perfectly timed ploy so that when it is there… people won’t make the connection between the declaration and a promotion for the book.

OK, I can handle change. Hey, I’ve done TQM, IDEF0, CMM, and all that fun stuff where change is a big theme. In a heartbeat, I invest in new technology when the wallet allows. Heck, I’m all for ‘E-mail’ becoming ‘email.’ Who wants to add extra keystrokes? But can you give me examples of words where they were initially capped and later dropped the cap? I am blank.

I guess I’ll go burn wired style. It’s dated 1999 anyway — 35 years old by ‘internet’ standards.

Update: I corresponded with Tony Long who wrote the edict. He said, “We’re not the magazine. This edict applies only to Wired News, the website (www.wired.com/news). The magazine, a separate entity entirely, continues to cap the I.” The book is from the editors of the magazine.