Al Gore Joins Apple's Board Of Directors

zzxc writes "News.com.com reports that Al Gore has been chosen to be on Apple's board of directors. Apple has a press release with more information. According to the press release, 'Al brings an incredible wealth of knowledge and wisdom to Apple from having helped run the largest organization in the world--the United States government' and 'He has remained an active leader in technology--launching a public/private effort to wire every classroom and library in America to the Internet.' The inventor of the internet should be a valuable asset to Apple."

Insert Internet Inventor Joke Here

[numbski]

Seriously though...he was advising Google???

I had absolutely no idea. Last I knew he was busy being a sore loser(winner?) of the last election.

At any rate, it ought to be an interesting addition to the staff. So long as he doesn't SERIOUSLY take credit for inventing the internet. ;)

Re:Insert Internet Inventor Joke Here

[Anonymous Coward]

Gore's words in a CNN interview, as quoted by Wired News, were as follows:

"During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

Gore meaning, obvious to anyone who knew the record, was that he did the political work and articulated the public vision that made the Internet possible. No reasonable person could conclude that Gore was claiming to have invented the Internet in any technical sense. The first half of his sentence makes this clear: he is talking about work he did in the context of his service in the Congress. The creation of the Internet was a process that had several phases and took several years, and Gore is claiming the principal credit for the political side of that effort. It is a substantial claim, but an accurate one.

Re:Insert Internet Inventor Joke Here

[Anonymous Coward]

I totally agree. And so does Vint Cerf, credited by most as being the "Father of the Internet".

From http://www.politechbot.com/p-01394.html

"Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on his role. He said: "During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the Internet." We don't think, as some people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he "invented" the Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore's initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving Internet."

Re:Insert Internet Inventor Joke Here

[swillden]

Gore meaning, obvious to anyone who knew the record, was that he did the political work and articulated the public vision that made the Internet possible. No reasonable person could conclude that Gore was claiming to have invented the Internet in any technical sense.

Of course not, but the claim that he "articulated the public vision that made the Internet possible" is also a rather serious claim, too serious to be accepted without support. This claim implies that Gore not only worked for funding for the

[OT] Thanks

[davebo]

Too often, these debates go as follows:

1) "Al Gore invented the internet"
2) "No, he didn't say that he said this."
3) "You're a liar just like Al Gore".

You're the first person I've read here that's successfully engaging in debate (at least for the "outrageous claim" side of the argument). Not to say there aren't others, but you're the first I've come across.

So, thanks for injecting a little intellegence into this discussion.

Re:Insert Internet Inventor Joke Here

[Maelikai]

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh120302.shtml

On September 1, 2000, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich addressed the American Political Science Association. His remarks were broadcast on C-SPAN:

GINGRICH: In all fairness, it's something Gore had worked on a long time. Gore is not the Father of the Internet, but in all fairness, Gore is the person who, in the Congress, most systematically worked to make sure that we got to an Internet, and the truth is--and I worked with him starting in 1978 when I got [to Congress], we were both part of a "futures group"--the fact is, in the Clinton administration, the world we had talked about in the '80s began to actually happen.

Eisenhower and Gore

[stevensweet]

Excerpt:

In 1957 Eisenhower created the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA, a think tank charged with creating ideas to compete with the Soviet Union). To collaborate on these ideas, they created Internet?s predecessor Arpanet, first envisioned by the head of DARPA computer projects, J.C.R. Licklider of MIT.

In the early days of computers, each of these research centers had a computer, but each was made to order and many were one-of-a-kind. Each computer had its own operating system, applica

Compared to "There Ought To Be Limits To Freedom"

[Chicks_Hate_Me]

Funny how they made Gore's out-of-context quotes a huge deal when Bush stated that "There ought to be limits to freedom." [gwbush.com]

I don't know what's worse, a guy claiming that he created the internet (which he didn't say) or a man that openly admitted to limiting our freedom.

No shit, really.

[Behrooz]

Gore co-sponsored the bill which funded the extension of ARPANET to non-military entities, which was a rather major political stumbling block for the early internet.

I'm too lazy to go hit up LoC for the dates and numbers, but it's there.

Re:No shit, really.

[isdnip]

Gore used the word "initiative", which is government-speak for "pile of money". That's what Congress does, dole (small d) out money. Gore's funding initiative was for NSFnet, which basically replaced ARPAnet and greatly expanded the (still at that point not open to the public) reach of the Internet.

The whole "invent the Internet" thing was a Big Lie put out by his right-wing opponents.

Re:bull shit.

[mshomphe]

Okay:
http://www.kings.edu/twsawyer/y2kelect/honest-al.h tml [kings.edu]

Please note the following:
(1) Al Gore never claimed to have created the internet, merely that he took initiative in fostering its development (as acknowledged by Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf)
(2) He was misquoted about Love Canal. In fact, "[t]he school group he was talking to demanded that the Washington Post retract its misquote of the Vice President."

bull shit? Yes, your post is indeed.

[Aexia]

Gore also took credit for solving Love Canal and that was a total lie.

The claim that Gore took credit for solving Love Canal? Yes, that was a lie since Gore claimed no such thing. [washingtonmonthly.com] The RNC, with the help of the media, quote Gore out of context and actually changed words to make appear he said something different.

"The Love Canal controversy began on Nov. 30 when Gore was speaking to a group of high school students in Concord, N.H. He was exhorting the students to reject cynicism and to recognize that individual citizens can effect important changes. As an example, he cited a high school girl from Toone, Tenn., a town that had experienced problems with toxic waste. She brought the issue to the attention of Gore's congressional office in the late 1970s. "I called for a congressional investigation and a hearing," Gore told the students. "I looked around the country for other sites like that. I found a little place in upstate New York called Love Canal. Had the first hearing on that issue, and Toone, Tennessee---that was the one that you didn't hear of. But that was the one that started it all." After the hearings, Gore said, "We passed a major national law to clean up hazardous dump sites. And we had new efforts to stop the practices that ended up poisoning water around the country. We've still got work to do. But we made a huge difference. And it all happened because one high school student got involved."

---

The next day, The Washington Post stripped Gore's comments of their context and gave them a negative twist. "Gore boasted about his efforts in Congress 20 years ago to publicize the dangers of toxic waste," the Post reported. "OEI found a little place in upstate New York called Love Canal,' he said, referring to the Niagara homes evacuated in August 1978 because of chemical contamination. OEI had the first hearing on this issue.'... Gore said his efforts made a lasting impact. OEI was the one that started it all,' he said." [WP, Dec. 1, 1999]

The New York Times ran a slightly less contentious story with the same false quote: "I was the one that started it all."

The Republican National Committee spotted Gore's alleged boast and was quick to fax around its own take. "Al Gore is simply unbelievable---in the most literal sense of that term," declared Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson. "It's a pattern of phoniness---and it would be funny if it weren't also a little scary."

The GOP release then doctored Gore's quote a bit more. After all, it would be grammatically incorrect to have said, "I was the one that started it all." So, the Republican handout fixed Gore's grammar to say, "I was the one who started it all."

In just one day, the key quote had transformed from "that was the one that started it all" to "I was the one that started it all" to "I was the one who started it all."

And someone's already posted what Vinton Cerf had to say about Gore's role in creating the Internet.

if he is such a loser....

[kingkade]

...why do you know his name and he doesn't know yours, hmmmmm?

Can you feel the universe bending to fit your perceptions? Oooooh, i can.

Re:quotes, etc

[davebo]

You can go here [cluebot.com] for Vin Cerf's take on it (he agrees with Al). There are a number of other links off of that site.

An interesting article can also be found here [reason.com], discussing how Al Gore pushed what became the High Performance Computing Act of 1991 - which was a billion bucks, about 15% of which was "new money", to work on networking.

Basically - he didn't do any of the techie stuff, obviously. He did push for more money in congress earlier than most people were. Was it essential? Probably not. But it helped.

As for love canal: Al Gore NEVER EVER EVER said he either "discovered" the Love Canal problem or "solved" it. You're quite mistaken in that assertion.

The story from CBS here. [cbsnews.com]

Quick summary: Al Gore mentiones he had the first federal government hearings on Love Canal (true), and that Love Canal started the big hullaballo about companies polluting the crap out of land then selling it for housing developments (true).

<rant>

I swear to God, every time I read something like this I get pissed off. Doesn't anybody ever bother to fact check anymore? Wasn't anybody else ever told "don't believe all that you read/hear?"

When you hear/read something like this - check it! Go into Google, type in a query, read a couple of different reports on the issue - that's the only way to get at a reasonable approximation of the truth. It takes 2 FREAKIN' MINUTES to do a search like this.

People want to manipulate you. They will outright lie or at least twist the facts to do so. They rely on people like you too damn lazy to do the research.

"Prove it, please." Jesus H. Christ! Don't you have an internet connection? Don't you know how to use Google? Do you need me to come over and spoon the applesauce into your mouth as soon as you've finished clicking on the links I've provided? (Presuming you live in a representative democracy/republic) IT'S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to be educated about the world you live in and the behavior of its elected leaders. Get off your ass, type some stuff into Google, and find out for yourself.

</rant>

Re:bull shit.

[Dominic_Mazzoni]

Here's the link [ietf.org] to the post where Vint Cerf says that Al Gore is pretty much right. Thanks AC.

Re:e-mail from Lloyd Wood

[davebo]

Here's [netsys.com]the e-mail I get from a google search on Lloyd Wood.

The important quote from Lloyd's message (responding to Vincent Cerf): "Thanks; it's good to know that Al Gore's statement isn't completely without unsupported foundation - although it could do with clearer scope."

So perhaps it would be more correct to say "he thought Gore was full of shit, UNTIL others pointed out the context in which Gore was speaking."

Re:Insert Internet Inventor Joke Here

[jo42]

Excellent! This means Apple will have much better AlGoreithms in their code...

Re:Insert Internet Inventor Joke Here

[questamor]

I know this may be as much PR as anything else, hiring an ex-famous-person to be on your BOD, but ex-politicians have to keep themselves occupied somehow. Surely Apple isn't the first tech company slashdot would report on, that has someone like this working for them.

How about Dell? Redhat? SuSE? Gateway perhaps - any that have famed people mainly known for their non-tech work?

Re:Insert Internet Inventor Joke Here

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

Well, strictly speaking he wasn't the loser... Why put winner in brackets. I'm still amazed at how such a corrupt election was allowed to stand.

No U.N. observers...

BTW, Iran regularly sees better popular turnout at the polls than the last 8 U.S. Presidential elections.

Re:Insert Internet Inventor Joke Here

[discstickers]

100% of Iraqis voted. What's your point?

Re:Insert Internet Inventor Joke Here

[xjerky]

Even if the Supreme Court hadn't ended things early, the recount that Gore wanted would not have gone in his favor anyway:

http://csmweb2.emcweb.com/durable/2001/04/06/fp2 s2 -csm.shtml

Re:Insert Internet Inventor Joke Here

[WatertonMan]

I'll never understand this mindset. For all intents and purposes it was a tie. The constitution and other rules told what to do in this case. For every argument about "a few votes here or there" Republicans could make the same argument. Hell, if there was a national recount I suspect the popular vote may even have changed.

The most important thing to realize is that in such a statistical tie, the general populace didn't care who was President. Yes there were zealots on the right and left who did. But by and large they couldn't really convince enough people to get anything other than a tie.

Anyone who says they were robbed (or for Republicans "could have been robbed") misses this fundamental point.

Once someone starts bringing in conspiracy theories we know it is pointless to keep talking. Republicans claimed conspiracies in the Kennedy - Nixon election. And, given events in Chicago, they were probably right. But once again there wasn't an overwhelming decision. So who cares?

Now if someone can point to a 5% difference and vote rigging then I'll listen. Otherwise it is just sour grapes.

Straight from my Constitutional Development notes:

[lpret]

I'm in a great class called Constitutional Development, and I'm just going to insert some notes on the issue:

Noting that the Equal Protection clause guarantees individuals that their ballots cannot be devalued by "later arbitrary and disparate treatment," the per curiam opinion held 7-2 that the Florida Supreme Court's scheme for recounting ballots was unconstitutional.

The precedent of Baker v. Carr allowed the Supreme Court to frame this case as a LEGAL question (rather than a political question) because they were able to argue that citizens of Florida were having their INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS violated and therefore, the Court argued that this made this case a LEGAL question.

Even if the recount was fair in theory, it was unfair in practice. The record suggested that different standards were applied from ballot to ballot, precinct to precinct, and county to county.

Because of those and other procedural difficulties, the court held that no constitutional recount could be fashioned in the time remaining (which was short because the Florida legislature wanted to take advantage of the "safe harbor" provided by 3 USC Section 5).

The per curiam opinion limited its holding to this present case only.

It was how they were to be recounted that was being questioned by the Supreme Court. So do a little homework first, and I'll finish studying for my test...

Internet inventor gets first tech job

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't it great that the inventor of the internet has gotten his first tech job?

Re:Internet inventor gets first tech job

[bunseki suru]

Hey now - that sounds like sarcasm.

Re:Internet inventor gets first tech job

[0x0d0a]

inventor of the internet

Seriously, you now have two wealthy, pampered, incredibly egotistical "tech visionaries" in the same room -- Gore and Jobs. If this works, I'll be amazed.

Re:Internet inventor gets first tech job

[sporty]

Hey, it works for Balmer and Gates. After all, Developers!

[/joke, nevermind]

al gore _did_ invent the internet

[matt4077]

Well, maybe he didn't invent it, but he actually was one of a few politicians actively promoting the internet.

Therefore we should be thankful instead of always making fun of that one statement he once made.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:al gore _did_ invent the internet

[fgodfrey]

Actually, the comment he made was, in fact, correct. The media misquoted it and for inexplicable reasons, Gore never challenged it. The direct quote was "As a member of the Senate I introduced the legislation that created the Internet" which, while maybe a bit self promoting, was what happened. He was one of the sponsorors (sp?) of the bill that opened ARPAnet to the public which created the internet as we know it. So, really, he never claimed to have invented anything...

Re:al gore _did_ invent the internet

[fgodfrey]

I hate replying to my own posts, but I screwed up the quote. Someone else got it right, further down the thread. The basic idea, though, is right - he never actually claimed to have invented the Net.

Re:al gore _did_ invent the internet

[jxs2151]

Please take care to provide the exact quote if you are going to accuse people of misquoting.

The actual quote is "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:al gore _did_ invent the internet

[Elwood P Dowd]

If you actually read the exact comment that he made, and understand the role Al Gore had in the creation of a research friendly political environment, no, it wasn't really silly or moronic.

I don't mind him getting lampooned, because it's funny, but... still. He deserves it even less than Dan Quayle (who was reading from a card with the alternative spelling "potatoe").

Re:al gore _did_ invent the internet

[0x0d0a]

he actually was one of a few politicians actively promoting the internet.

Simply rephrase it so that Slashdotters can appreciate it: without Gore, there very likely would have been no public school Internet access, and far less infrastructure available to higher education institutions. Imagine Dubya in the driver's seat all those years [shudder] -- lots of guns, lousy network.

1st usenet message with both Gore and ISH

[Gryphn]

ISH == Information Superhighway

Snipped from;
[google.com]
Google Link

"3. THE "INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY" SHOWS A BIG INCREASE IN FY 92.
The President's budget proposes $638M for the High Performance
Computing and Communications program, an increase of $149M, or
30%. This initiative was generated by the Federal Coordinating
Council on Science and Engineering Technology (FCCSET, which is
pronounced "fix it") and involves eight Federal agencies. The
project has been pushed both by Bromley and Sen. Gore (D-TN),
whose father l

Re:al gore _did_ invent the internet

[Chibi]

Well, maybe he didn't invent it, but he actually was one of a few politicians actively promoting the internet.

Therefore we should be thankful instead of always making fun of that one statement he once made.

I think it's probably more realistic to say that virtually ALL politicians have said stupid things.

Here's some proof for Mr. Gore.:

http://www.gargaro.com/algore.html [gargaro.com]

I'm not sure how many of these are true, as the site is a bit dated, and some of the reference links no longer work, bu

well, at least it's not like ...

[kingkade]

...him inventing the inet means he's not for the 'embetterment' of our children.

ouch. leader of the free world, god help us.

Politics

[EnlightenedDuck]

My guess would be that it has more to do with governmental contacts than expertise about computers - Gore must have a pretty good list of contacts throughout government by now, and if that can help Apple, why shouldn't they tap him to be on their board of directors? Beats another lawyer....

Re:Politics

[odin53]

Beats another lawyer....

These are the directors of Apple:

Bill Campbell
Chairman and former CEO
Intuit Corp.

Millard Drexler
Chairman and CEO
J. Crew

Albert Gore Jr.
Former Vice President of the United States

Steve Jobs
CEO, Apple
CEO, Pixar

Arthur D. Levinson, Ph. D.
Chairman and CEO
Genentech

Jerry York
President and CEO
Micro Warehouse

Where are the lawyers? I don't understand your statement. And what would be wrong with having lawyer on the BOD (assuming conflicts of interest don't exist)?

Re:Politics

[Shenkerian]

(Gore was the one who flunked out of college while Bush was the one with an MBA from Harvard)

If by "flunked out of college" you meant "graduated cum laude from Harvard (1969), then from Vanderbilt Divinity School (1972), then from Vanderbilt Law School (1976)," you're absolutely right.

Inventions

[zzxc]

Just in!

Gore invents AppleTalk

Gore invents candy-colored computer

Gore invents small music player

Gore invents fast new web browser

Gore invents XUL (Hyatt mysteriously fired)

Gore invents new GUI for BSD

Re:Inventions

[Surak_Prime]

The above looks like someone playing Civilization. I'd shift some resources away from science, and more towards luxuries, or the Al Gorians may get unrestful now that we're at war.....

DMCA?

[Jason1729]

Wasn't it the government Al Gore helped run that brought us the DMCA?

It might not be a good thing having him as a director at one of the few big tech companies that is still customer friendly.

Jason
ProfQuotes [profquotes.com]

Re:DMCA?

[Ivan Karamazov]

I wouldn't get your panties so bunched up about Al Gore and the DMCA. Remember that it was Gore and the Clinton administration that tried to break up Microsoft. (Unlike the current admin that just decided they will no longer enforce anti-trust laws.) Gore clearly has a pro-technology and pro-technology-choice bent. Al Gore may be able to do a lot for Apple. He certainly has a lot of connections. This could be a really smart move on Apple's part.

Interesting side note, President Clinton and Jobs were pretty tight, while Michael Dell was a big supporter of Dubya. I think that says a lot...

Re:DMCA?

[sg3000]

> Interesting side note, President Clinton and
> Jobs were pretty tight, while Michael Dell was a
> big supporter of Dubya. I think that says a lot

It sure does. Plus Microsoft was a big supporter of Dubya as well. Back during the election, Microsoft hired one of Bush's consultants to help them lobby the Bush administration about the anti trust case:
(from the NY Times article, Apr 11, 2000)

The Microsoft Corporation has quietly hired Ralph Reed, a senior consultant to Gov. George W. Bush's presidential campaign, to lobby Mr. Bush in opposition to the government's antitrust case against the software giant.

Microsoft's aim, the company says, is to curry favor with the apparent Republican presidential nominee, hoping he will speak out against the government's case -- and, perhaps, take a softer approach toward the company if he is elected president.

Mr. Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition, is well situated to take on the assignment since his firm, Century Strategies, is one of Mr. Bush's top consultants. During the primary campaign, Mr. Reed frequently appeared on television to talk on behalf of the campaign.

According to a Mercury News article from 1999, Microsoft also helped finance his inaugural celebration for his second term as Texas governor, and their COO was one of GWB's chief fundraisers for the Northeast.

One good thing you can say about Bush is that when he's bought, he stays bought!

Re:DMCA?

[geekoid]

actually, he is not for censorship, only approprietly labeling 'offensice' material.
there is a big difference.

If the government said "no adult material is allowed, and will be removed" I would be angry

If the government says adult magazines must be behnd the counter, I don't mind.

Re: Al Gore Joins Apple's Board Of Directors

[BWJones]

Politics aside, (Disclaimer: I voted for him) this may be just what Apple needs. Someone who is capable, knows business, government and academia and is not an Apple insider.

Re: Al Gore Joins Apple's Board Of Directors

[BWJones]

Apple insider? You can't get much more outside than board member Millard Drexler, the chairman and CEO of J. Crew.

True, but what experience with technology and computing did Millard have? Gore at least has extensive experience with the development and promotion of technologies.

Re: Al Gore Joins Apple's Board Of Directors

[discstickers]

Retail [apple.com] experience. The CEO of the Gap is also on the board.

Re: Al Gore Joins Apple's Board Of Directors

[BWJones]

1. Al Gore knows business. I doubt it. His only job since college that wasnt government was as a reporter for a local newspaper. And that was for a brief time.

He has been instrumental in getting business and government to cooperate in wiring classrooms nationwide, and is currently a senior advisor for Google, Inc.

2. Al Gore knows/is academic[a]. I doubt it. He isn't particularly well educated by any standards. He is college educated, which is something for sure. He is presumably very bright, but as somewhat who has meet him and had some conversation with him, he came off as kinda dim. Not GWBush dim, but clearly not razor sharp.

I can't claim to have talked with him personally, but I have read his writings, speeches etc... and he comes off pretty bright to this person with 13 or so years of post high-school education. And from the press release: "He is also a visiting professor at the University of California Los Angeles, Fisk University and Middle Tennessee State University. Mr. Gore received his B.A. in Government with honors from Harvard University in 1969, and attended the Vanderbilt University School of Religion and the Vanderbilt University School of Law." I would say this qualifies.

3. Al Gore is not an Apple insider.
That is good. But on the other hand, he isn't likely to be able to affect much of how Apple operates because of that same reason.

Where is you logic here? This is a totally bogus and biased statement with no evidence to back it up.

4. Al Gore knows government. True, but he knew the last government. That's a problem. He knew a lot of key decisons makers and might have been able to leverage those. Now there is a new government, and many decisions of scale and size are made by political apointee's and their sub-ordinates. This means he in fact has very little leverage for Apple now that GWBush is in office.

Again, from the press release: "He served for a total of eight years as President of the Senate, a member of the cabinet and the National Security Council, and as the leader of a wide range of Administration initiatives including environmental policy, technology, science, communications and government cost reduction."

You can't possibly have this level of experience and not be able to navigate government past and present. In fact, in my personal experience, having even a little degree of connection with government does wonders for ones business. Al Gore has most folks trumped here by a long shot.

But seriously, this is interesting but not really all that good for Apple, in my opinion. He is a controversial, and turns alot of people of (about 49% of voters at last count).

Well, that is an opinion and as for your percentage (matching that of the last election), the majority of folks like him.

That's not a good quality for a company who is very image focused. Even if only 1 in 1000 people hate him enough to not buy Apple products, will it outweigh the number of people who will buy Apple products because they like him? Probably not.

Gee, let's see, Apple is doing quite well with 4-5% of the personal computer market. If they can appeal to at least the majority of the U.S. population, that can only be a good thing for the company.

HA HA HA HA HA, +5 Funny!

[iSwitched]

You were joking right?

So you're going to boycott any company with assholes on their boards of directors, are ya?

Better start doing some serious investigating, since 99% of the big-boys in this country are gonna have someone that someone somewhere hates on their boards. Looks like you're gonna have a tough time buying anything in this country, and that includes sleeping, eating, hell, even wiping your ass after you crap.

Best of luck to you.

Gore didn't claim that

[Kallahar]

During a March 1999 CNN interview, while trying to differentiate himself from rival Bill Bradley, Gore boasted: "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. ... The terrible irony in this exchange is that while Gore certainly didn't create the Internet, he was one of the first politicians to realize that those bearded, bespectacled researchers were busy crafting something that could, just maybe, become pretty important." - Wired News [wired.com]

Al Gore never claimed he invented the internet, and anyone who jokes about it is just showing their ignorance. (sorry timothy)

Kallahar

Wrong person to blame

[Adam9]

The editors' comments aren't in italics and aren't within double quotation marks. The poster's comments are. Look at the article asbtract again to see what I mean.

Common Sense.

[Erris]

Al Gore never claimed he invented the internet, and anyone who jokes about it is just showing their ignorance. (sorry timothy)

Let's examine dates, shall we? Ask the tree himself [smithcounty.net] what he did. Well, it's a little dishonest, Gore dropped out of law school, but the dates are hard to refute.

When the internet was "invented" in 1969, Al Gore was acting as a combat reporter in Vietnam. Comendable enough, but the Senator's son had it much better than most. We can imagine his grasp of computing was about as broad as his expressed interst in such things at the time and for years to come, ZERO.

In the next five years he failed as a farmer, priest and lawyer. No biggie, lots of nice people fail at many things and the effort is commendable if not exceptional. Yet, where is the interest in computing while Unix is being created?

In 1976, Gore started his long and unbroken career as a politician. According to this empasioned defense [politechbot.com] Al Gore made his first concrete contribution to what we know of as the internet with, "High Performance Computing and Communications Act in 1991." Not bad, he beat Bill Gates to caring, but it's hardly the kind of stuff you could call "instrumental".

Clearly, however, he suffered from his associations with one of the most agresivly dishonest administrations in US history. We can give credit to Al Gore for the 1996 Telecomunications Act, which failed, and the DMCA. It's a mixed record by someone who's writing proves a deep ignorance of many important technical matter. It's right to distinguish between people who understand technical details and those who pretend to know. It would be one thing if he stood on his record honestly. His agradizing and pretenses were blatant enough for people who wanted him elected to notice. The New York Times, the Washington Post and other paper called him on this.

I can only imagine that Apple thinks Gore has some influence to wield in shcool and government computer purchases. It's inconcievable they hired him for technical reasons.

Re:Common Sense.

[sfwriter]

Ignoring your sarcastic temporal hair splitting around the word "invent" which Gore never said, I'll move on to:

"In 1976, Gore started his long and unbroken career as a politician. According to this empasioned defense [politechbot.com] Al Gore made his first concrete contribution to what we know of as the internet with, "High Performance Computing and Communications Act in 1991." Not bad, he beat Bill Gates to caring, but it's hardly the kind of stuff you could call "instrumental". "

Not Instrumental? That act provided much of the foundation for the Internet you use today. Hell, the provision for exposing more undergraduate students to the Internet probably did more to popularize the Internet than you can measure.

The HPCC represented the culmination of years of lobbying, explaining, and educating on Gore's part, but in addition to this, he helped privatize the Internet paving the way for pretty much everything the public would recognize. He was also an outspoken champion of technology in general, which is the point he was making.

I've met him several times, and he is by far the smartest politician I have EVER met. He could clean Newt Gingrich's clock with one frontal lobe tied behind his back.

I guess the most relevant meeting I ever had with him was in Nashville around 1995. I was part of an Internet startup, an ISP, and got to shake hands with him. He was there as a speaker and essentially a technology cheerleader. I thanked him for helping make our little company a reality.

This was years before the "invented the Internet" nonsense. Even then I credited him with being a visionary about it. He didn't see it as an academic problem, or a network between research institutions, or a defense project, or even a place to find 800 kinds of porn. He saw it as a tools for transforming society.

Read his 2000 Red Herring interview and prepare to be stunned.

-Sandy

Inventor of the internet

[billnad]

No you've got that wrong.

He did not say that he invented it, just that he brought it to the masses, he is kind of like the favorite uncle of the internet.

: Boys with Power end up on Corporate Agenda's

[rhyder]

Apple is lucky to have him, that is a lot of top-down influence. The big gears up-top *are* the ones that predominate our lives in the ways of general trend and influence. Now given, there is proactive and reactive influence, but big players will ensure social connectvity, which AL has a great deal of.

I have to go hear him lecture next week

[webster1]

Gore is going to be lecturing my class next week at Middle Tenn State Univ (where he has been an adjunct prof for a while...i am not proud).

Anyone have any questions you want me to ask him?

He is officially there to talk to my 'Legal Problems of the Recording Industry' class about he and his wife's censorship/labeling campaign in the mid 1980's. However, we have been told that we can "ask him anything." Tipper may be there too, but at this point we dont know.

Yep

[Goonie]

Ask him about copyright. What does he think the philosophical basis for copyright protection is - in the context of the de facto perpetual copyright regime developing in the US. Are the present copyright conditions and term lengths serving those purposes? Wouldn't a shorter term serve just as well?

Re:I have to go hear him lecture next week

[Mikey-San]

Ask him, very specifically, about Apple's DRM stance.

"You've just recently been added to Apple's board of directors. What are your feeling towards Apple's customer-friendly, honesty-based stance on Digital Rights Management?"

-/-
Mikey-San
Submitted without a karma bonus for extra flavour!

Re:I have to go hear him lecture next week

[Screaming Lunatic]

That's a slanted question. He'll figure out what you want to hear. Ask him this instead:

"You've just recently been added to Apple's board of directors. What are your feelings towards Apple's current stance on Digital Rights Management? Would that stance change now that you are a member of Apple's board of directors?"

Always strip the adjectives out of your questions. You want to find out which way the respondent is leaning without giving away which way the questioner is leaning.

After the 2nd question is answered, then hammer him with further questions depending on if he answered in the affirmative or not.

Re:I have to go hear him lecture next week

[Elwood P Dowd]

Please, oh please, push him about the DMCA getting passed under his watch, and his wife's co-founding of the PMRC. Some suggest that the PMRC has lead to de facto government censorship.

It might take a little research to get good questions that he won't just brush off, or evade, but those are two technology issues that are totally essential to us /.ers as voters, and us Apple fans as customers.

Re:I have to go hear him lecture next week

[dbrutus]

Sure. Ask him about Congress' responsibilities under the copyright clause to advance the arts and sciences. Is keeping things locked up and out of the public domain for so long the optimal way to do it?

Re:I have to go hear him lecture next week

[kinnell]

Anyone have any questions you want me to ask him?

Ask him whether he prefers vi or emacs

Political connections could help, think DRM

[MyNameIsFred]

At first I was speechless when I read this. I'm thinking what in the world can Al Gore bring to the company. But then I start thinking of his political connections. The fact that there are so many issues -- DMCA, copyright extentions, DRM -- that affect computers and that have political roots In that context, having someone with political connections could certainly help.

Re:Political connections could help, think DRM

[geek]

You think Gore will fight DRM? His wife is one of the worst proponents of censorship on this planet. The woman is a fucking Nazi man, Gore is one of the last people I want anywhere near technology right now.

AUGH! STOP REPEATING THAT!

[kevin lyda]

he didn't say [snopes.com] he'd invented the internet.

Not Crazy Eddie?

[ralico]

Apple's board should have chosen Crazy Eddie [crazyeddie.com]
That way Apple would be insanely great at insane prices.

Finally something truly interesting.

[Blimey85]

I've been bored off my ass all day... until now.

Now I can't stop laughing. Apple has always though different and I think that through all of the problems they have had, they have done pretty good. Not many companies have taken on MS and lived to tell the tale. Apple has. But what is the reasoning behind hiring Al Gore?

Yes I read the bloody article and yes I know what Apple is telling us, but what is the real reasoning behind the scenes? Do they honestly think Al Gore can bring something to Apple? What does he know about computer companies, software companies, or the Apple way of doing things? Why not bring back Woz? At least Woz had an idea of what the hell is going on. Maybe this is just a gimmick though. Something crazy to get Apple in the news for a while. To make people remember they exist. Or maybe Steve really thinks Al can add to the Apple brand.

Re:Finally something truly interesting.

[ender81b]

Political Connections Galore. Seriously, he was the former vice president and has a ton of political connections and can seriously help apple in this arena. This is important for any major company, to have good lobbyists and such and Al Gore will only help them in the area.

That and the prestige of having the fomer vice president (and nearly president) be on your board of directors.

You never know, maybe Al really does love apple and technology as well. Shrug, maybe HE wants to do this and approached apple

oh oh

[deanj]

I bet they go back to beige macs....

Re:oh oh

[Peterus7]

Haha, the best macs.

Still, I can just imagine Gore in a switch ad.

"I used to work with a PC. Then I lost the election all because of a screw up with ballot countings. The vote counting computer in florida was running windows, and it crashed, and thus I lost. That's when I switched to mac, and I've been a happy man ever since."

"My name is Al Gore, and I AM president."

The Mother of Stupid Political Mistakes

[Shuh]

Al Snore, the Forrest Gump of the Left is about as popular on the Right as Dubya is with the Liberals. Way to inject the dealy venom of national politics into a company that's having enough problems just doing the "Lone Consumer OS/Computer Against The Windows Juggarnaught" thing.

Al Gore is going to be an albatross around the neck of Apple. And before I get flamed, what I said for Gore goes double for ANY high-profile controversial political figure from the Government Sector.

Pull with the NEA and Teacher Unions

[davejenkins]

Al Gore, as a standing liberal, has quite a bit of pull with the teachers unions and others who are buying computers for schools. This alone makes it worth Apple's money to try and shore up their stronghold-- although that educational market is quickly being eroded with Linux on commodity white boxen.

Al Gore also carries weight with the pot-smoking hippie baby-boomers. Stinky hippies.

In a shocking development on Slashdot today...

[sockit2me9000]

The same joke was told 20 times in the space of five minutes. Said one poster, "It was like we all had the same idea , boy was it freaky." The impetus of the bizarre occurrence of synchronicty was a story about Al Gore becoming a member of Apple's board of Directors. "I mean, what's the chances that we would all have the SAME idea at the SAME time, it's not like this was an obvious joke," said one poster who declined to be identified. Another was heard to whistle underneath his breath and say, "That's it, I believe in God now." The Vatican was unavailable for comment, but a low giggle was heard to emanate from the Holy Sees residence at roughly the same period. Commander Taco, upon hearing this said, near tears, "It's like we told a joke that mad the whole world laugh, AT THE SAME TIME!" In other news, the much-heralded cliche filter on slashdot crashed at roughly the same time, though it could not be confirmed if the two were related.

Gore taking bite out of Apple

[4mn0t1337]

Yahoo news also has the story [yahoo.com].

"Gore said in a statement that he had been particularly impressed with Apple's Mac OS X operating system and the company's commitment to the open-source software movement."

Huh? Didn't know Gore Was pro OSS...

And "does his own video editing in Final Cut Pro."

I'm scared to see what those movies wind up looking like...

Isnt it great?

[leecho]

I find it really interesting that Apple takes every possible chance to astonish their customers and stockholders? Since the 1984 campaign, every time Apple gets a lot of public attention, it's about something either awesomelly weird or awesomelly cool.

If you take a look at recent Apple's history, they're doing it more often, though. Steve Jobs gets back, then iMacs, the Cube, iPods, OS X, iLife, the new iMac, killing the original iMac, hiring Al Gore...

Anyone knows of any other tech company that hired a p

What? Another job?

[crumbz]

The guy already was elected president...er...umm...yeah.

I'll just go back to my TPS reports...

Keeping a beat

[ChicagoFan]

Now iTunes will use the most up-to-date Al Gore Rhythms!

ChicagoFan

Is anybody else weirded out by this?

[IdahoEv]

That Apple is inducting Al Gore on the very day the Bush is starting a war in Iraq?

Isn't this just a little weird to you guys?

I'm not insinuating any particular meaning --- I have no clue as to the meaning. It's just kind of creepy...

Re:Is anybody else weirded out by this?

[IdahoEv]

I sent a similar email to friends. Here's my housemate's reply.

Don't you see?

Apple has always had a vision of a better world, but Steve was always too 'out there' to lead it. Now they have a leader, and they can start a new government of the world. In this new country (which as yet only has territory in the hearts of the faithful) everything works the way it ought to, peace and communication are the order of the day, republicanism is outlawed, and the new G5 clocks up to 28.6 GHz. California (with the

Apple needs to get into Government

[bill_mcgonigle]

Look, as much as I detest the guy's politics, what Apple needs more than anything now is government support.

The Government needs to support Open Source, a cornerstone of Apple's strategy. The Government needs to specify the use of Open Standards. The Government needs to stop running exclusively on Windows. The Governement needs to stop finding Apple's competitors guilty of predatory practices and letting them off with a warning.

I'm sure they get into regular meetings, say pitching a room of XServes, and they have a room full of Engineers all on board, then the bean counter comes in and says, "oh, but it has to run on Windows." End of story. If there's an XServe rack somewhere with a nasty twist in it it's because Steve Jobs threw it out a fourth floor window after one of these meetings.

Apple's biggest barrier to entry is the Microsoft De-facto standard that exists in Corporate America, and they hate being hamstrung by it at every turn when they know they have a better product. When the government starts requiring bids to come in in the OpenOffice XML format, there's at least the chance of Corporate America following, and perhaps the playing field will level.

When Apple wanted to get into Network Computing (remember that?) they got Larry on board. When they wanted to get into Retail they got the guy from the Gap. Etc.

What Apple needs to get into Government is a technically-savvy government insider who has all the contacts, lots of influence, and not much else to do. I don't like the personalities involved, but Gore is not bad on science and this is a brilliant move on Jobs's part.

I expect to see lots of sensible legislation supporting many of the positions regularly espoused around here introduced in the Congress in the next year. We'll know where they came from. Remember, politics is the art of the possible.

Spot the trend

[Drishmung]

Well, as Apple is well known for setting trends, how long before some other companies start doing the same? Which politicians will we soon be seeing at?

• Microsoft
• Dell
• SUN
• Oracle
• VA-Linux

I think I'll vote the Cowboy Neal option myself.

Al Gore and Ricochet

[batobin]

I wonder if the people making the decision saw this [tobinhosting.com].

But in a surprise decision...

[Elias Israel]

But later, in a surprise decision, the Supreme Court threw out the posting, and placed George W. Bush on the Apple board instead.

Upon hearing of the stunning turn-around, Gore refused to leave the Apple board room, clinging fiercely to the furniture and sometimes hiding under the board room table.

After seven hours, Apple security guards were finally able to remove Gore from the premises and send him on his way.

Gore was visibly shaken after the defeat and called it "a dark day for America," citing the line of environmentally-friendly computers he had hoped to encourage Apple to produce by a wave of his majestic hand. "I took the initiative in creating the Internet," said Gore, "and look what has become of it. Without someone to call new environmentally-friendly computers into existence by detached fiat, what will become of the American worker?"

Sources said Gore had returned home to begin regrowing his beard through a long, arduous process of sitting on the living room sofa for weeks on end and subsisting on a diet of Cheetos.

A mysterious, robotic voice.

[CleverNickName]

Whenever I turn on my iBook, this robotic voice says, "You are hearing me talk."

It suddenly makes sense, now.

If you need me, I'll be parked under the Sun Sphere.

More Details

[Guppy06]

The Apple press release goes on to say that Al Gore's membership on the board will be a unique one. His duties will involve presiding over board meetings and, yet he will only be allowed to cast a vote in the event of a tie between the other members.

Mr. Gore was quoted as saying "Damn it, not again!"

Seems like a perfect match ...

[Ninja Programmer]

When I think of Al Gore and Apple together, why do the words "Runner Up" keep coming to mind?

Just like other big companies.....

[seichert]

Unfortunately government has corrupted our industry. From prosecuting Microsoft to shutting down Napster, they have to assert their control. Apple is dealing with this the way other big companies are, by paying off one politician / or ex-politician in order to fight off the others. In addition, federal taxation is so high and the federal government controls so much spending that companies need an insider to get a piece of the pie. Apple lost to Microsoft because in the 1980s they tried to get public schools hooked on Apple computers. I.e. they went for the government market. Microsoft focused on the business customer (i.e. the free market) and won. Now the federal government is seen as the big pie, so they will all hire lobbyists, politicians, etc. to help them get a piece. Truly disgusting.

Re:Where did the Mac come from...

[bluethundr]

wonder if he is going to try and take credit for inventing the Mac...

If he did, I would hold him in a half nelson and let Jeff Raskin [sourceforge.net] punch him in the stomach!

Re:This man is a genius!

[SoCalChris]

After inventing the Internet, he will now invent the Macintosh, and thus the GUI, user-friendly computing, and so on...

You've got your facts all mixed up. He didn't invent the Macintosh & the GUI, he invented the GUI while working for Xerox!

Re:correction

[Cid Highwind]

after all he was vice president of the united states!

You need a better argument. After all, Dan Quayle was vice president, too!

Because...

[Goonie]

Whether you like it or not (I certainly don't) a majority of Americans seem to think executing teenagers and the mentally ill in a revenge kick is just fine and dandy, and don't understand just how much Shrub has managed to piss the rest of the world off in an incredibly short space of time.

Re:I don't get it.

[goon america]

How does Rush do it?

Because he gives them something they want: to feel powerful, justified.

He's good at coming up with excuses to distract away from the positive and draw focus on the negative in a way that makes people who agree with him feel more assured about what they think. Naturally, the positions he advocates need a lot of rationalization.

Re:I don't get it.

[saddino]

How does Rush do it?

He does it by not trying to bullshit people into believing things that just aren't true.

Purposely spreading unsubstantiated rumors and lies is "not trying to bullshit people into believing things that just aren't true?"

Here's just ONE [aol.com] example of the numerous false statements he has made in print and on the air:

-----
In Chapter 16 of "The Way Things Ought To Be" Rush talked about how Willie Horton brutally raped a woman after he was allowed out of a Massachusetts prison on a furlou

OK, one refutation coming right up

[davebo]

Here's a little something Rush has said in the last few weeks - particularly relevant with the unstable state of the world today.

You can get this quote from the Rush Limbaugh transcript archive [blogspot.com] from Tuesday, Feb 25, 2003:

Rush: "the one nation on earth to whom this is only and all about oil is France. France imports most of its oil, and gets the vast majority of that from Iraq. They have sweet economic deals that go back to the 70s made between Saddam Hussein and Jacques Strap Chirac, and I'm telling you, their opposition to this is rooted solely in their desire for an uninterrupted, continued supply of oil from Iraq."

Let's see what the Department of Energy [doe.gov] has to say about this little bombshell:

"French imports come primarily from Saudi Arabia and Norway, followed by the United Kingdom (UK), Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, and Russia. In July 2001, the Iraqi government stated that it would reconsider oil projects with French companies and no longer give French companies "priority" due to France's support of the U.S.-British "Smart Sanctions" proposal at the United Nations Security Council."

So - no, France does not import "the vast majority" of its oil from Iraq, and any "sweet deals" they had worked out were apparently ended in 2001 because France wanted to continue sanctions against Iraq.

Think of all the "anit-France" bashing going on in the U.S. right now. Don't you think this kind of claim from Rush helps contribute to that? Does it really have the same impact if Rush says, "for France, this is all about oil from their 4th largest supplier that cut their oil companies out in 2001 because of their willingness to continue with sanctions?"

I don't know - maybe you'll say "well, it's just one little misstatement", but it's symptomatic of a pattern. There is more than one of these "little misstatements" that get thrown out there, that nobody bothers to follow up on, and that shape the tone of the debate (for the worse, I'll say - because it's not based on the truth).

Browse his radio transcripts (see the link above). Look for particularly inflammatory claims, or statements of fact. Do some research on your own to see if it's exactly as Rush has proclaimed. Perhaps you'll find out 99% of what he says is true. Perhaps not. But at least then YOU can say with confidence that you trust what he says because YOU have checked up on him.

oh, yea - I did a fair amount of looking, and this was the most recent, least biased source I could come up with. Feel free to find a more recent (than Jan 2002) article from an equally repudiable source to prove me wrong.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Didn't Al Gore

[saddino]

No, and he never said he did either. This is a great example of media paraphrasing blunders.

Not accurate .... he DID say that

[adzoox]

He said that he helped with the funding and creative force that became the internet and that Tennesee was one of the first universities to fully utilize it because he saw how great it would become. Therefore he recommended quick adoption (and providing funds for) internet "capabilities" in public institutions. He was inferring that he was a reason the internet got started so quickly. The question asked by Wolf Blitzer on CNN was, "What do you think has been your greatest contribution to education?"