When You Quote The Inventor Of The Web Out Of Context, He Fights Back On The Web
from the good-for-him dept
Last Thursday night, I was particularly surprised to see a BBC interview with web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, where it made it sound like he was worried about all the "bad things" the web had allowed. I wrote up a post wondering when TimBL switched from technology optimist to technology curmudgeon, blaming technology rather than the way people use it. I held the post overnight, in part because it sounded so unlike Tim, and I wanted to see if there was more to the story. The next day, when it was announced that he was really just discussing a new program to study web use and how it effects people, it became pretty clear that the original quotes had been taken way out of context to turn it into a story about how Tim is worried about the "monster" he created. Of course, that didn't stop plenty of others, including the Guardian from writing up articles suggesting that Tim feared the technology. I ended up ditching the original post I wrote up, figuring it wasn't worth discussing, but the response to those articles actually is worth discussing.Tim quickly responded on his own blog to point out that his comments were taken out of context and twisted around to make a good story, rather than an accurate one. So how do the publications respond? The author of the Guardian piece has put up a blog post basically admitting that he made a mistake -- but that none of the comments were falsified and that he'll wait for the paper's ombudsman to rule on whether or not the article was fair. In many ways, this highlights (in unexpected ways) exactly TimBL's point: the technology certainly can be used in questionable ways (whether on purpose or not), but the great thing is that the technology is equally available as a way to respond. He probably just didn't expect that it would happen concerning his own story trying to make that point.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Oy Vey
As for the topic, I don't have much to say. I hate the way people and the media always try to twist around what you say to turn it against you. And it is always taken out of context. Just once, ONCE, I want one of these dumbasses to give the WHOLE story so that WE don't have to search for it. ok, enough of the rant.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Oy Vey
The irony of this statement is almost painful.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
On Topic: The media has had a long standing of taking things out of context - Our media is no longer informative but is to be considered entertainment. I rarely ever take anything of value when watching the news. This is simply another example of such. As far as Tim - I feel bad for the guy, the News basically attacked him to get better ratings.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
nothing new here
And way to go Mike for seeing through the BS and waiting for the truth to come out.
There is nothing but innuendo and speculation on most news shows these days.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mike!
Surely you knew that the web's beginning was a bunch of tech guys getting together and sharing information using a series of numbers and codes to communicate ideas? They were the original hackers. It must have been a thrill! (I remember when I communicated, for the first time, with the techies at our main frame in Chicago.) It certainly wasn't cheap back then... all those long distance charges, the cost of the modem, the dial phones. Then somebody figured out that they could charge for connecting to the internet by the minute... How could you think he'd blame the technology? I think he was the guy who said "there are no more bugs in computers, just bugs using them."
To Charles Griswold: I feel the pain!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I thought....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Now that's ironic
Someone send this to Alanis Morissette...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]