What a Tangled Web

New technology baffles everybody, including journalists, who sometimes can’t even decide how to name the gadgets and concepts they write about.

Lately, talk in Internet discussion groups frequented by journalists has centered on what to call the portion of the Internet known as the World Wide Web. Should it be “WWW” on second reference, some wondered, or “the Web”?

Well, one journalist said it should be customized to accommodate regional accents. His suggestions:

Chicago: Da Web.

Atlanta: The Wey-ub.

Saskatoon: The Web, eh?

Little Rock: Dub-yuh dub-yuh dub-yuh.

Paris: Le Web.

And let us not forget Los Angeles: The, like, you know, Web.

Greg Miller covers high technology for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at greg.miller@latimes.com