Yes, the notion that Al Gore invented the Internet is a worn-out trope that has taken on a life of its own. (He actually said he “took the initiative in creating the Internet.” Still a bold statement, but far short of saying he came up with the idea.)
Regardless of who invented it, the Internet is, in my mind, the greatest invention of my lifetime (which started in 1966). If you’re looking to give credit to someone, check out the bio on Tim Berners-Lee, who invented several things that are integral to the Internet – WWW, the URL system, HTML and HTTP. There have been others who contributed to the system, but Berners-Lee is the guy who got most of the ball rolling.
There are other amazing inventions that have changed our lives in that time frame – fiber optics, GPS, PCs and cell phones – but all of them are in some way dependent on the Internet for their resonance. Without the Internet, you wouldn’t even be reading this blog post right now.
