Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Interesting Article - "Study: How Twitter is Hurting Students," by Carin Ford
In light of our recent discussion on McLuhan and extensions and amputations, I found this article that appeared in the Higher Ed Morning interesting and thought I'd share - http://www.higheredmorning.com/study-how-twitter-is-hurting-students.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
"Critique of McLuhan’s Technological determinism viewpoint or lack of one thereof," by Mentor Cana (2003)
In the introduction of the 2003 article, "Critique of McLuhan’s Technological determinism viewpoint or lack of one thereof," Mentor Cana explains that it is difficult to find a starting point to critique Marshall McLuhan’s work since he has written so much and at times his ideas are difficult to understand. I appreciate this since I struggled with some of McLuhan’s ideas myself.
However, I find areas of this article difficult too. The first point that I’m struggling with is when Cana writes, “he (McLuhan) appears to be supporting the view that the human society is helpless and must, or eventually ought to succumb to the technological forces (para. 4).” I was actually under the impression that McLuhan viewed technology negatively and thought that society would be better off without it. In the overview: “Marshall McLuhan: ‘The Medium is the Message’ (2002), Todd Kappelman mentions that McLuhan was aware “that more people watch television than go to church (2).” I understand that this article was written for a Christian audience, but it’s my impression that McLuhan, too, was disturbed by this fact. Also, McLuhan talks about the anxiety that technology brings to people in his book, Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man (1964).
Also in the critique, Cana writes, “Media technologies are invented, created, and deployed by man (para. 4).” I think that this statement is referring to a point that McLuhan makes in Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man, when McLuhan admits that some people would think that the message of the machine wasn’t the machine itself, but what people did with the machine. However, he disagreed. According to him, “It mattered not in the least whether it turned out cornflakes or Cadillacs (McLuhan 7)."
Another point that Mentor makes is “the content comes to play a role once the technology somewhat establishes itself in the society (para. 5).” I’m not sure how I feel about that statement. It seems to me that mediums are constantly evolving. I’m especially thinking of the cinema. Some recent movies have focused more on the medium than the content. For example, one new trend is to show movies in 3-D and more films are also being shot with IMAX film.
One point that I do agree with is that the classifying media as hot or cool isn’t very useful. One thing that I hadn’t thought of prior to this article is that TV today (think HDTV) is very different than TV during McLuhan’s life. I’m still confused, however, by low participation vs. high participation. Although TV today is high in data, doesn’t it still sometimes require high participation? I’m thinking about game shows, learning shows for children, shows that require the audience to vote for a contestant. Am I thinking of participation incorrectly?
Works Cited
Kappelman, Todd. "Marshall McLuhan: 'The Medium is the Message.' Probe Ministries International, 2001. 25 September 2009 http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/mcluhan.html>
McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw Hill, 1964.
Mentor, Cana. "Critique of McLuhan's Technological determinism viewpoint or lack of one thereof." 2003. 27 September 2009 http://www.kmentor.com/socio-tech-info/2003/10/critique-of-mcluhans-technolog.html>
However, I find areas of this article difficult too. The first point that I’m struggling with is when Cana writes, “he (McLuhan) appears to be supporting the view that the human society is helpless and must, or eventually ought to succumb to the technological forces (para. 4).” I was actually under the impression that McLuhan viewed technology negatively and thought that society would be better off without it. In the overview: “Marshall McLuhan: ‘The Medium is the Message’ (2002), Todd Kappelman mentions that McLuhan was aware “that more people watch television than go to church (2).” I understand that this article was written for a Christian audience, but it’s my impression that McLuhan, too, was disturbed by this fact. Also, McLuhan talks about the anxiety that technology brings to people in his book, Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man (1964).
Also in the critique, Cana writes, “Media technologies are invented, created, and deployed by man (para. 4).” I think that this statement is referring to a point that McLuhan makes in Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man, when McLuhan admits that some people would think that the message of the machine wasn’t the machine itself, but what people did with the machine. However, he disagreed. According to him, “It mattered not in the least whether it turned out cornflakes or Cadillacs (McLuhan 7)."
Another point that Mentor makes is “the content comes to play a role once the technology somewhat establishes itself in the society (para. 5).” I’m not sure how I feel about that statement. It seems to me that mediums are constantly evolving. I’m especially thinking of the cinema. Some recent movies have focused more on the medium than the content. For example, one new trend is to show movies in 3-D and more films are also being shot with IMAX film.
One point that I do agree with is that the classifying media as hot or cool isn’t very useful. One thing that I hadn’t thought of prior to this article is that TV today (think HDTV) is very different than TV during McLuhan’s life. I’m still confused, however, by low participation vs. high participation. Although TV today is high in data, doesn’t it still sometimes require high participation? I’m thinking about game shows, learning shows for children, shows that require the audience to vote for a contestant. Am I thinking of participation incorrectly?
Works Cited
Kappelman, Todd. "Marshall McLuhan: 'The Medium is the Message.' Probe Ministries International, 2001. 25 September 2009 http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/mcluhan.html>
McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw Hill, 1964.
Mentor, Cana. "Critique of McLuhan's Technological determinism viewpoint or lack of one thereof." 2003. 27 September 2009 http://www.kmentor.com/socio-tech-info/2003/10/critique-of-mcluhans-technolog.html>
Excerpts from Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man, by Marshall McLuhan (1964)
In the introduction of his 1964 book, Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man, Marshall McLuhan wrote that “…the Western world is imploding (1)” due to an extension of consciousness caused by electric technology. I interpret this to mean that people are inundated with so much information - that they feel an obligation to act on this information, and as a result they feel overwhelmed. Again, it is interesting that this was written prior to the Internet.
He called this new era, “the Age of Anxiety (5).” (We must now be in the Age of the Mental Breakdown). Electric technologies and their characteristic speed pressure people not only to become aware of a vast amount of information, but also to get involved. As a result of the extended consciousness, people long for “wholeness, empathy, and depth of awareness (6).”
In the first chapter, “The Medium is the Message,” he explains that both the medium and the content are the message. He gives the example of electric light, which is typically viewed as lacking a message, unless if it spells out a brand name. However, it’s important to think of the things that electric light makes possible – baseball at night, for example. Baseball at night could be one example of the content of light, which is made possible by the medium. And “the message of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs (8).”
In the second chapter, “Media Hot and Cold,” (such a clever title when you think medium, hot, and cold) McLuhan discusses hot and cold media. He offers a few examples of hot media: the radio, movies, and photographs; and cold media: the phone, TV, and speech. Hot media are full of information and require low participation, whereas cool media require high participation (23-4). I don’t entirely agree with his classifications. I think that listening to the radio requires more participation than watching TV Since there is no “picture” with the radio, the audience must visualize what they are hearing in their head. Also, most radio stations depend on audience participation, whether via quizzes, contests, advice segments, etc.
Works Cited
McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw Hill, 1964.
He called this new era, “the Age of Anxiety (5).” (We must now be in the Age of the Mental Breakdown). Electric technologies and their characteristic speed pressure people not only to become aware of a vast amount of information, but also to get involved. As a result of the extended consciousness, people long for “wholeness, empathy, and depth of awareness (6).”
In the first chapter, “The Medium is the Message,” he explains that both the medium and the content are the message. He gives the example of electric light, which is typically viewed as lacking a message, unless if it spells out a brand name. However, it’s important to think of the things that electric light makes possible – baseball at night, for example. Baseball at night could be one example of the content of light, which is made possible by the medium. And “the message of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs (8).”
In the second chapter, “Media Hot and Cold,” (such a clever title when you think medium, hot, and cold) McLuhan discusses hot and cold media. He offers a few examples of hot media: the radio, movies, and photographs; and cold media: the phone, TV, and speech. Hot media are full of information and require low participation, whereas cool media require high participation (23-4). I don’t entirely agree with his classifications. I think that listening to the radio requires more participation than watching TV Since there is no “picture” with the radio, the audience must visualize what they are hearing in their head. Also, most radio stations depend on audience participation, whether via quizzes, contests, advice segments, etc.
Works Cited
McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw Hill, 1964.
“Marshall McLuhan: ‘The Medium is the Message,’ by Todd Kappelman (2001)
Todd Kappelman’s article for Probe Ministries, "Marshall McLuhan: 'The Medium is the Message,' is an overview of a selection of Marshall McLuhan’s thoughts regarding technology and society. McLuhan, who the article describes as "the high priest of pop-culture (Kappelman 1)" was a Christian, who seems to have been weary of the effects that technology had and would have on people.
One of the first ideas that Kappelman discusses is a “global village,” a term created by McLuhan that refers to a world community that shares a single consciousness. McLuhan believed that the global village put more emphasis on the technology that it has created and the message via that technology than religion. He came up with this term in the 1960’s; now that most people have access to the Internet, the global village is even more evident (1-2). Nowadays, people are constantly connected, and they learn of events that happen around the world in real time. In fact, many people (like myself) feel lost when they don’t have access to the Internet.
Next, the article discusses American advertising, which McLuhan discussed in his 1951 book, The Mechanical Bride. McLuhan wrote that it's the advertiser’s goal to “manipulate, exploit, and control the individual (2).” Companies make people believe that they need a certain product. They convert women into objects and force products upon them that will supposedly make them more desirable to men. This is one topic that really angers me! We have become so conditioned by the media’s portrayal of women that we don’t realize how offended we should be. Companies try to tell us that if we buy their products, we will look like the women in their ads, which are photoshoped images and unobtainable goals. No wonder so many girls have self-esteem and self-image issues! I'll get back on track...
The next topics in the article are extensions and amputations. “An extension occurs when an individual or society makes or uses something in a way that extends the range of the human body and mind in a fashion that is new (3).” For example, the car is an extension of the foot. With the technology of the automobile, people can get places quicker than they could on foot. However, with extensions come amputations, or a loss. With the example of the automobile, society walks less. In general, society is lazier, fatter (although other factors certainly contribute to this). Another negative aspect of the automobile is pollution and fatalities caused by car accidents (3-4).
The interesting point that McLuhan makes about extensions and amputations is that society focuses on the extensions and tends to ignore the amputations. We tend to focus on the progress and sweep the negativities under the rug. One thing that I hadn’t thought of before was that fatalities associated with car accidents would most likely be completely diminished if the speed limit was reduced to 20 mph. However, this will likely never happen because it’s more important for people to arrive at their destinations quickly. How sad (4)!
In his final work, The Global Village (1989), McLuhan developed four questions for us to ask when analyzing media:
One of the first ideas that Kappelman discusses is a “global village,” a term created by McLuhan that refers to a world community that shares a single consciousness. McLuhan believed that the global village put more emphasis on the technology that it has created and the message via that technology than religion. He came up with this term in the 1960’s; now that most people have access to the Internet, the global village is even more evident (1-2). Nowadays, people are constantly connected, and they learn of events that happen around the world in real time. In fact, many people (like myself) feel lost when they don’t have access to the Internet.
Next, the article discusses American advertising, which McLuhan discussed in his 1951 book, The Mechanical Bride. McLuhan wrote that it's the advertiser’s goal to “manipulate, exploit, and control the individual (2).” Companies make people believe that they need a certain product. They convert women into objects and force products upon them that will supposedly make them more desirable to men. This is one topic that really angers me! We have become so conditioned by the media’s portrayal of women that we don’t realize how offended we should be. Companies try to tell us that if we buy their products, we will look like the women in their ads, which are photoshoped images and unobtainable goals. No wonder so many girls have self-esteem and self-image issues! I'll get back on track...
The next topics in the article are extensions and amputations. “An extension occurs when an individual or society makes or uses something in a way that extends the range of the human body and mind in a fashion that is new (3).” For example, the car is an extension of the foot. With the technology of the automobile, people can get places quicker than they could on foot. However, with extensions come amputations, or a loss. With the example of the automobile, society walks less. In general, society is lazier, fatter (although other factors certainly contribute to this). Another negative aspect of the automobile is pollution and fatalities caused by car accidents (3-4).
The interesting point that McLuhan makes about extensions and amputations is that society focuses on the extensions and tends to ignore the amputations. We tend to focus on the progress and sweep the negativities under the rug. One thing that I hadn’t thought of before was that fatalities associated with car accidents would most likely be completely diminished if the speed limit was reduced to 20 mph. However, this will likely never happen because it’s more important for people to arrive at their destinations quickly. How sad (4)!
In his final work, The Global Village (1989), McLuhan developed four questions for us to ask when analyzing media:
- “What does it extend?”
- “What does it make obsolete?”
- “What is retrieved?”
- "What does the technology reverse into if it is over-extended (5)?"
Let’s apply this tetrad to the Internet:
- The brain? The eyes? Consciousness
- Print media; socializing with “real” people
- Awareness, sense of community
- An overextension of the Internet results in society longing for relationships with real people, conversations, company…
Works Cited
Kappelman, Todd. "Marshall McLuhan: 'The Medium is the Message.' Probe Ministries International, 2001. 25 September 2009 http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/mcluhan.html>
Monday, September 21, 2009
"The Machine is Us/ing Us" (YouTube Video)
My immediate reaction after watching this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g>) is that I feel utterly overwhelmed. It was fast-paced and packed with information, much like the internet. I’m also still pondering the title, “The Machine is Us/ing Us.” The Machine is Us. The Machine is Using Us. Which is it? I’ll have to think about that…
The video consisted of phrases being typed via various Web applications, and the main phrase that struck me was, “Who will organize all of this data?” Perhaps this caught my attention because the answer is Me and the rest of my classmates. Since so many people have access to sharing information via the Web, whether it’s a blog, tweet, image, video, etc., I’m beginning to realize that it’s our task to serve as the gatekeeper – that we need to sort through this information and share what is relevant to the masses. This task is even more daunting when you take into consideration that “there’s a blog born every half second.”
Another interesting point in the video for me was the things that we’ll need to rethink since the Web is ubiquitous. They are:
The video consisted of phrases being typed via various Web applications, and the main phrase that struck me was, “Who will organize all of this data?” Perhaps this caught my attention because the answer is Me and the rest of my classmates. Since so many people have access to sharing information via the Web, whether it’s a blog, tweet, image, video, etc., I’m beginning to realize that it’s our task to serve as the gatekeeper – that we need to sort through this information and share what is relevant to the masses. This task is even more daunting when you take into consideration that “there’s a blog born every half second.”
Another interesting point in the video for me was the things that we’ll need to rethink since the Web is ubiquitous. They are:
- "Copyright
- Authorship
- Identity
- Ethics
- Aesthetics
- Rhetorics
- Governance
- Privacy
- Commerce
- Love
- Family
- Ourselves"
That’s a lot to rethink! Right now, I can’t warp my brain around the enormity of the Web.
"Giving up my iPod for a Walkman," by Scott Campbell (2009)
What a cute article and an interesting experiment! In the article, "Giving up my iPod for a Walkman," which appeared in BBC News Magazine, 13-year-old Scott Campbell was up to the experiment of trading in his iPod for a Walkman for a week! Being born in the 1980’s, I’ve never seen the original Walkman – it actually looks like the “grandfather of the mp3 player (Campbell 2).” According to Campbell, it’s the size of a small book with “clunky buttons (1).” Also, since it can only play one cassette at a time, you have to take into consideration the additional hauling around of the carrying case for additional cassettes, which one commenter fondly recalls toting around.
Aside from not being aesthetically pleasing and much larger than today’s mp3 players, Campbell mentions a few other cons of the Walkman – the sound quality and the lack of a true shuffle feature. He explains that when listening to the Walkman he hears “warbly” sounds (2). Also, since there is not shuffle feature, he has to rely on the rewind and fast forward buttons to skip to different tracks within the tape. He later learns from his father, however, that this practice can destroy tapes.
One pro of the Walkman is that it has two headphone sockets, which allows two people to listen to it simultaneously; a special adapter is necessary to do this on an iPod (3). But, he failed to mention that you could put the iPod on a docking station, and numerous people could listen to it at once.
It’s interesting that as I write my reaction to this article, I see the commercial for the new iPod, which also shoots video. It’s compact and aesthetically pleasing; it comes in practically every color of the rainbow – and gray!
Aside from not being aesthetically pleasing and much larger than today’s mp3 players, Campbell mentions a few other cons of the Walkman – the sound quality and the lack of a true shuffle feature. He explains that when listening to the Walkman he hears “warbly” sounds (2). Also, since there is not shuffle feature, he has to rely on the rewind and fast forward buttons to skip to different tracks within the tape. He later learns from his father, however, that this practice can destroy tapes.
One pro of the Walkman is that it has two headphone sockets, which allows two people to listen to it simultaneously; a special adapter is necessary to do this on an iPod (3). But, he failed to mention that you could put the iPod on a docking station, and numerous people could listen to it at once.
It’s interesting that as I write my reaction to this article, I see the commercial for the new iPod, which also shoots video. It’s compact and aesthetically pleasing; it comes in practically every color of the rainbow – and gray!
"As We May Think," by Vannevar Bush (1945)
After reading Vannevar Bush’s 1945 article, "As We May Think," which appeared in the Atlantic, I can’t help but wonder what he would think about technology today. Would he be amazed with the personal computer, cell phone, digital camera, etc.? Or, would he be surprised that we haven’t advanced further, as he had envisioned similar devices over 60 years ago?
Perhaps the main reason that these technologies haven’t become widespread until recently is due to economics. Bush would appreciate this. I thought that his discussion on economics was one of the more interesting points in the article. He explains that had a Pharaoh been given the necessary knowledge of an automobile, it would have cost his kingdom a huge sum of resources to build one, only for it to break down “on the first trip to Giza (Bush 2).”
It is important for technology to be manufactured economically, perform reliably, and be sold at a reasonable price to the consumer. I can’t remember when it became common for everyone to have their own computer, cell phone, digital camera, iPod, etc., but today it seems that everyone I know has one of each. Not only that, but we rely on these devices and use them daily. I know that if I leave my phone at home for one day, I feel lost.
I think that Bush understood that in the future, people would rely heavily on technology – that it would be important for it to be fast, compressed, interactive, and ubiquitous. In closing, he writes that, “science may implement the ways in which man produces, stores, and consults the record of the race (11).”
My overall impression of the article was that Bush was an extremely bright man with incredible foresight. It’s hard to believe that this article was written in 1945! I wonder what he would think is in store for our future.
Perhaps the main reason that these technologies haven’t become widespread until recently is due to economics. Bush would appreciate this. I thought that his discussion on economics was one of the more interesting points in the article. He explains that had a Pharaoh been given the necessary knowledge of an automobile, it would have cost his kingdom a huge sum of resources to build one, only for it to break down “on the first trip to Giza (Bush 2).”
It is important for technology to be manufactured economically, perform reliably, and be sold at a reasonable price to the consumer. I can’t remember when it became common for everyone to have their own computer, cell phone, digital camera, iPod, etc., but today it seems that everyone I know has one of each. Not only that, but we rely on these devices and use them daily. I know that if I leave my phone at home for one day, I feel lost.
I think that Bush understood that in the future, people would rely heavily on technology – that it would be important for it to be fast, compressed, interactive, and ubiquitous. In closing, he writes that, “science may implement the ways in which man produces, stores, and consults the record of the race (11).”
My overall impression of the article was that Bush was an extremely bright man with incredible foresight. It’s hard to believe that this article was written in 1945! I wonder what he would think is in store for our future.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
"Towards a Mediological Method: A Framework for Critically Engaging Dimensions of a Medium," by Melinda Turnley (2009)
I found Melinda Turnley’s article, “Towards a Mediological Method: A Framework for Critically Engaging Dimensions of a Medium” difficult. Inspired by Regis Debray, she provides “a framework for analyzing media that includes seven dimensions – technological, social, economic, archival, aesthetic, subjective, and epistemological (Turnley 1).”
After I read this article, I decided to read and blog about the other articles before revisiting it. I’m glad that I did because I understood her seven dimensions a bit clearer as they kept popping up in the other readings.
When I was reading Scott Campbell’s 2009 article, Giving up my iPod for a Walkman, I thought of the technological dimension. He was used to a shuffle feature on his iPod and since the Walkman didn’t have this feature, he had to rely on the rewind/fast forward buttons.
Both the Economic and Archival dimensions immediately came to my mind while reading Vannevar Bush’s 1945 article, As We May Think. When he describes the Memex, which is his version of the personal computer, he explains that it will be important that it can store a lot of information and that a person can access this information readily, perhaps years down the line (pg.9). I expand on his point about the economics of the car in Ancient Egypt in my previous blog.
While watching the YouTube video, I thought of the social dimension. Today, almost anyone can create a message and spread it rapidly via the Web, a privilege that in the past only belonged to a select few. I was also reminded of the point in the video when it says, “We’ll need to rethink a few things: Copyright, Authorship, Identity, Ethics, Aesthetics, Rhetorics, Governance, Privacy (<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g>)” because although most people have the ability to communicate via the Web, it doesn’t mean that they are professionals. It doesn’t mean that they can communicate effectively, that they can produce something aesthetically pleasing, that they are communicating their own thoughts and not somebody else’s work.
Turnley addresses this on pg. 2 of the article when she discusses convergence, which she defines as “the ways in which digital technology allows previously distinct media to come together.” Today various media can be merged together quite easily by almost anyone with a computer.
Another interesting quote from Turnley’s article is on page six. It reads, “Politics, discourse, and media shape one another and collectively support certain systems of power and access.” When I read this, I thought about the Web’s role in political campaigns. In this past presidential election Barack Obama was able to raise an unprecedented amount of money to support his campaign, which perhaps helped him win the election.
After I read this article, I decided to read and blog about the other articles before revisiting it. I’m glad that I did because I understood her seven dimensions a bit clearer as they kept popping up in the other readings.
When I was reading Scott Campbell’s 2009 article, Giving up my iPod for a Walkman, I thought of the technological dimension. He was used to a shuffle feature on his iPod and since the Walkman didn’t have this feature, he had to rely on the rewind/fast forward buttons.
Both the Economic and Archival dimensions immediately came to my mind while reading Vannevar Bush’s 1945 article, As We May Think. When he describes the Memex, which is his version of the personal computer, he explains that it will be important that it can store a lot of information and that a person can access this information readily, perhaps years down the line (pg.9). I expand on his point about the economics of the car in Ancient Egypt in my previous blog.
While watching the YouTube video, I thought of the social dimension. Today, almost anyone can create a message and spread it rapidly via the Web, a privilege that in the past only belonged to a select few. I was also reminded of the point in the video when it says, “We’ll need to rethink a few things: Copyright, Authorship, Identity, Ethics, Aesthetics, Rhetorics, Governance, Privacy (<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g>)” because although most people have the ability to communicate via the Web, it doesn’t mean that they are professionals. It doesn’t mean that they can communicate effectively, that they can produce something aesthetically pleasing, that they are communicating their own thoughts and not somebody else’s work.
Turnley addresses this on pg. 2 of the article when she discusses convergence, which she defines as “the ways in which digital technology allows previously distinct media to come together.” Today various media can be merged together quite easily by almost anyone with a computer.
Another interesting quote from Turnley’s article is on page six. It reads, “Politics, discourse, and media shape one another and collectively support certain systems of power and access.” When I read this, I thought about the Web’s role in political campaigns. In this past presidential election Barack Obama was able to raise an unprecedented amount of money to support his campaign, which perhaps helped him win the election.
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