Internet myths: The follow-up blog post

I wrote about Internet myths last week for Computerworld, and I've had fun seeing how the Digg community has either posted some of their own myths, challenged my accuracy in the article, or added to the discussion in some way.

I thought I'd post a bit about how I came up with the ideas and did some fact-checking. I like how Nicholas Carr has done this, so I am following that lead.

To start: It's always entertaining to see the meme plume model that develops after these articles are published. I like to participate in the comments as much as possible, as my editor has noted, but I also have no patience for people who are not capable of civility. And, it's also interesting when someone challenges you on the accuracy of a myth. Okay, we all have way too much free time.

I did want to mention a couple of addendums. I got a couple of facts wrong on Internet2 (the myth is that it will be the follow-up to the Internet), and I will post more about that in a day or two (and probably post a clarification with the article). Actually, some of these things depend greatly on who you ask, and when. I have done several articles on Internet2 over the years, and requested comment from the Internet2 group but they did not respond right away.

As for the myth about a forthcoming MacTablet (a device similar to a Tablet PC that uses Mac OS), I also asked Apple for comment and did not get an immediate reply. Usually, when corporate PR do not reply, it means no or no comment. There's never been any basis to the tablet myth. I did hear back from Microsoft about the $1000 bill myth (where Gates would not pick one up if he dropped it), who said officially: no comment.

On the myth that PC gaming is dead or dying: One commenter at Digg said that World of Warcraft proves the PC gaming platform is alive and well. Not really. If one game on a video console was popular but otherwise it was all Sims games, we'd create a rumor about it being dead. The reason PC gaming is doing fine is not because of one game, but because there are so many B-grade games and casual games, more than the consoles by far.

I like the forwarding e-mail myth (where peopel think by forwarding an e-mail it has some rewards), I think it's funny and widespread -- and still perpetuating. People believe it and think there is something mystical about forwarding.

You might wonder how I picked the sections for the piece. It's a curious exercise. For the most part, I just sort of sit and think for a while. There's no point in discussing more obscure myths, or myths that have already been debunked so severely they are not even a myth anymore. I don't use any other lists to create my own list, and instead try to think of things I have heard or read in the past. I do a lot of research. On the Bill Gates myth, for example, there are many variations that include the idea that the Microsoft Chairman doesn't need to pick up the $1000 bill because the company makes that much money in the few seconds he would expend. But there's also variations that leave that part out because they want to insinuate that he just doesn't need the money himself, which I think is actually more interesting - partly because it's probably true, he doesn't, but it also implies that he is the type of person who would squander the money, which is not true. (An analyst -- who wanted to remain anonymous -- said he knows Bill personally and he would never not pick up dropped money.)

As for the comments about the Al Gore myth (that he invented the Net), we included those as a kind of joke that everyone already knows at the very end. And, most people have now realized he was saying he just helped fund the creation of the Internet. In my research, I found that it was actually Wired that perpetuated the myth about Al Gore.