|
| <<I do not think that it has anything to do with whether using the
| Internet is commonplace. IMHO, you take the train (not the Train)
| because there are any number of trains. On the other hand, you use the
| Internet (not the internet) because there is only one of it. (Just as
| you cannot say "an internet".) Internet does not descrbe a category of
| things, it is a proper name of a unique entity.>>
|
| Agreed, it's something there is only one of, so that you can't choose
| among various internets, as you can choose among various trains. But by
| that figuring, wouldn't you have to capitalize "air," since you have to
| say "the air"? Then, again, there's the air in the city and the air in
| the country -- which are very different things.
|
It isn't using the article to signify a single entity that matters -- it's
that "Internet" is the *proper name* of the thing. I think also that the
"highway" metaphor can aid in understanding why it's capitalized. When you
name a particular highway, you cap it.
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