Katie Couric: 1994-Can You Explain What Internet Is? (Video)

Gawker TV ^ | February 4, 2011 | Staff

[lbryce]

Katie Couric:Can You Explain What Internet Is? (Video)

Here's a recently re-discovered oldie—and goodie!—to show how far technology has come in the last two decades. Watch this Today Show clip from 1994, featuring Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel's complete confusion about what, exactly, the Internet is.

[lbryce]

It's shocking to say the least, that someone of Katie Couric's stature, co-host one of the most popular shows on TV, appearing so appallingly vapid, clueless about this compelling new cultural phenomena. The internet had been growing steadily and in 1994 had made considerable inroads into society, culture.

It's not like she was some sheltered housewife, raising a family in Middle America, not privy to the latest cultural phenomena. Someone of Kouric's stature, working for a media giant with exposure to the latest happenings should not have been caught so unaware, appear so appalling ignorant, having symptoms of some neurological meltdown regarding this new-fangled device that was the internets.

It just goes to show how you don't an IQ more than that of a baked potato to be a star in the news, entertainment industry. Just look at Dan Rather.

[no_go_lie]

Yeah, but she thinks she’s a lot smarter than Sarah Palin.

[Carpe Cerevisi]

In her defense, not a lot of people knew about Internet back then...except Algore.

[blam]

NBC Fires The Guy Who Posted The "What Is The Internet" Video Of Katie Couric And Bryant Gumbel

[al_c]

I remember my first reaction to the web. "What the heck are all these blue underlined words? Man, this stuff is boring."

Then along came the dreaded animated gif and all you'd see on a page is a bunch of blue underlined text and crap like this .....

My, how things have changed.

[GOP_Party_Animal]

24: The Unaired 1994 Pilot

[Joe 6-pack]

"In her defense, not a lot of people knew about Internet back then...except Algore."

Indeed. I'm no defender of Katie, but in 1994, this would have been a fair question to be asked on a news/talk show. At that time it was something a lot of people were starting to hear about, but most people in the public at large didn't really understand.

[jimpick]

Yeh and remember all the ads popping up. I remember selling stocks on the net in 1994.

[jimpick]

I had a 286 with a math coprocessor chip and a turbo switch. Got me to 2 mega hertz.

[ixtl]

I am no Katie Couric fan either, but I think I got my first internet connection about 1994; a dial-up that took forever by today’s standars. Now I have a 3G wireless, but I still don’t understand the significance of “@” - I just use it.

Sometimes I feel like the Geico Caveman.

[RobinOfKingston]

Who knew, all those years ago, that “Vapid” was a career choice.

[albie]

Some guy named Al Gore invented it Katie! Ask him. Sheesh!

[primeval patriot]

Agree with that statement.

In ‘94 it was a brand new venue and Americans weren’t really sure what to make of it.

[lbryce]

Thanks very much for posting the link. It provides interesting detail to the story I’m glad I got to read about it, specifically that the comment by Kouric was made off the air.

[lbryce]

Please see comment #4. It’s a link to interesting revelations about the incident, specifically, that the conversation took place off the air.

[Paisan]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is a “Couric”?

[dead]

Back in 1994, everybody was orange.

[tophat9000]

but I still don’t understand the significance of “@” - I just use it.

Your kidding?... it mean "at" so your saying (someone) @ (this web adress) think of it like a phone number with an extention just in reverse order 555 1212 (the main number) ex 111 (your extention at "@" that main number)

[primeval patriot]

I remember my first reaction to the web. "What the heck are all these blue underlined words? Man, this stuff is boring."

I got on in '96 with a 2nd hand Mac IIci, a 33.6 modem and Mosaic.

My first reaction as a lifelong bookworm and information junkie was "Oh My God!"

Went online for the first time on a Friday night and spent 12 solid hours exploring.

[duckman]

“In her defense, not a lot of people knew about Internet back then...except Algore.”
Back in the early 80’s, at IBM, we had a network called the Internet. We used it to TP batch job output to other IBM sites. So that term was used well before AG ‘invented” it. Data sent over 50 KB lines, fast for that time.