The medium is the message

What did McLuhan mean when he said that ‘the medium is the message’? Is this idea any use in understanding contemporary mass media? When McLuhan said ‘the medium is the message’, he meant that the “message” of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs (McLuhan, 1964), insisting that when trying to understand the influence of media on human senses, people should focus on the properties of media rather than the messages they carry (Scannell, 2007). His idea put an emphasize on the technological characters of media, acknowledging that every technological breakthrough of communication has all played a vital role in enlarging the scope of human cognition and changing the habits of…

communication the extension of human imagination creates forms of communication that transcend interactive experiences. For instance, the multitude of devices created with the intentions to strengthen existing societal bonds and co-exist to create established constructs. The imagination of human communication brings existence to devices such as clay tablets, hieroglyphics on Egyptian walls, putting short concise messages on the claws pigeons and or simply through a text message and a plethora…

Many years later, the social media application Twitter proves McLuhan’s theories on media are still relevant in present day society. Twitter corresponds and represents McLuhan’s theory of hot and cool media. Twitter embodies the basic principal of cool media. The app was developed to interact with other users on a daily basis, therefore, similar to all other cool media platforms it requires active participation. A perspective of cool media dictates that “the recipient is not a mere…

McLuhan states that, “Our conventional response to all media, namely that is how they are used that counts, is the numb stance of the technological idiot. For the ‘content’ of a medium is like the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind.” People are susceptible to everything they see and hear. They will believe and do almost anything the media tells them to. +Using the foundation of McLuhan’s essay “The Medium is the Message,” one can see how certain…

In the short passage of The Medium is the Message by Marshall McLuhan, he explains his views on the transition from verbal communication to writing words down on a paper, and also the constant advancement of technology. McLuhan proposed that writing words on a paper led to inventions such as book, roads and more. At the same time, writing caused Western society to live in a world of invisible lines. He emphasized that alphabet had no true meaning until lines were added to it. Also that before…

The Extensions of Man. McGraw-Hill, 1964. Reviewed by Kayla M. Piper, Pittsburg State University, KS. Medium Is the Message, a part of the book Understanding Media, is a critical evaluation and interpretation of Media Ecology, a communications theory. Marshall McLuhan particularly focuses on the idea that the medium is the message. He presents the idea that instead of the content of the medium being the message, it is actually the effect that it creates on human life. He states, “The medium…

Without the medium, the message would not be able to get through or be accessible. The primary physical medium of this object is a book. Without the book Scivas, the message would not be able to get through to the outside world. The messages of the excerpt spread through the writing in the book. Her work was written and distributed all over with the help of pieces of paper bound together with ideas filled in them. Other media depicted that helped with the construction of the object would be a…

use different mediums when it comes to their artwork. The type of medium that is used influences the content and feel the pieces give. Two of the most distinct mediums of art are sculptures and oil paintings. Auguste Rodin’s, Eve, is a French sculpture made of bronze which portrays a woman hiding herself in fear of something. Paul Signac’s, Entrance to Grand Canal, Venice, is a French oil painting on canvas which portrays Venice’s entrance to the Grand Canal. Each of these pieces have unique…

Fairy God Medium: Gender roles through shifting adaptations of Cinderella Once upon a time, there lived a story told far and wide. This story goes by many names, but we best know it by the name Cinderella. The Cinderella story is a truly inter-medium story. Its basic structure can be found in books, comics, television shows, the news, and movies. A Cinderella story needs three features: a slipper, an ill treated heroin, and a fall from grace followed by the rise to a greater positon after some…

electrical impulses and chemical messages. Connecting two isolated minds requires more than just electrochemical communication between neurons. Since we cannot directly connect two minds, we must send messages between two minds in alternate ways. To take a thought from one mind and transmit it to…