McLuhan,
M. (1964) The Medium is the Message. Understanding
Media: The extension of Man.
New
York: Signet
Marshall
McLuhan, the father of communication and media studies and leading prophet of
the information age. He discusses the medium of writing, audio and the electric
media and their effects on individuals, cognition and society in one of his
symbolic article- “ The medium is the message”.
He
describes medium is any extension of ourselves, which medium extends our
thoughts from our mind to others, just like clothing is an extension of the
skin, the wheel, an extension of the foot, the book; extension of the eye. He
believes that modern media and technology are extensions of human senses, which
extends our perception and sensibilities to the society, as the way they change
in interpersonal dynamic and communication with the innovation of technology
media.
Speaking
of the difference between the medium and the message, McLuhan identifies the
light bulb as a clear demonstration of the idea of the medium is the message.
He explains a light does not have any content, but it enables people to create
space during the nighttime. He states “the content of a medium is like the
juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind”,
just like the light bulb creates environment for people just by its mere
presence.
Hence,
McLuhan argues that people largely miss structural changes and the essence of
the medium, while they tend to focus on more obvious content with valuable
information. In other words, McLuhan thinks content plays a dominant
subordinate role where people are often get distracted by the content of the
medium, which leads to making people less aware of the cultural changes and
social issues when new technology becomes a new medium in our lives.
At the end, McLuhan
emphasizes the nature of the medium itself has more significant influence and
importance than the content of the medium. He describes the technique of
invention in technological media has changed how people view the world and how
these views are changed by the adoption of new technology.
This article is extremely
important for CCT110 students because it emphasizes the influences and
importance of the medium in this new media technology environment. It’s
important for us to understand the correlation between the medium and message
in order to communicate information more effectively and efficiency in this
communication, digital and interactive environment.
