Two excerpts from http://www.afirstlook.com/docs/mediaecology.cfm About Marshall Mcluhan - The medium as message - and
an approach to technology and innovation relevant to the current discussion
about upgrades, obsolescence and Ludditedness. "McLuhan is fond of quoting the mantra of
anthropologists, "We don't know who discovered water, but we're pretty
sure it wasn't the fish." In the same way, we have trouble recognizing our
media environment—we're in it. Media environments are made up of complex
relations. They are ecological. The medium of television requires a particular use of
technology, defined by society and culture. To partake of a medium is to accept
the "groundrules, pervasive structure, and overall patterns" of its
environment. This compliance to the environment is almost always unconscious.
We do it without thinking. And yet without this compliance, the medium is not
the medium, nor is it an environment. For example, when you buy an iPod, you are implicitly
agreeing to accept its particular environment. You are signing on to a
particular mode of experience. If you decide to use your iPod as a hockey puck,
then it's really no longer a digital medium. Yet most students of media would
focus on the uses and gratifications of the particular content chosen by the
iPod owner—a mistake McLuhan characterizes as "the numb stance of
the technological idiot." You may, of course, listen to jazz instead of
acid rock, or podcasts instead of broadcasts, but you are still using the iPod
as an iPod. It is this latter experience that defines the medium and its
environment. A medium is an ecology that we absorb by using
technology for the purpose for which it was created. As in all ecologies, a
media environment is capable of being radically altered by a significant change
within its system. (In weather systems, consider global warming.) So McLuhan
tracks the major ecological shifts in human history to reveal how the dominant
communication medium of any age conditions people to its environment." AND: (also from http://www.afirstlook.com/docs/mediaecology.cfm) "LAWS OF MEDIA:
PREDICTING CHANGES IN THE ECOLOGY Late in his life, McLuhan abandoned his punch line
approach and expressed his intent to set forth general statements about media
that others might verify—a seeming nod toward critics who accused him of
being unscientific. Whether he was really ready to commit himself to objective
predictions that could be tested, or alternatively, was taking a satirical poke
at those who propose grand theories of media effects—we'll never know. In
the middle of the project McLuhan suffered a debilitating stroke, and died two
years later. Yet after his death, McLuhan's son Eric, who worked closely with
his dad, published Laws of Media: The New Science under both of their names.
The book claims there are four laws that apply to every type of media. The
"laws," however, are presented as questions rather than declarative
statements. Just as Kenneth Burke labeled his dramatistic tools of
act-scene-agent-agency-purpose a pentad (see Chapter 23), Marshall and Eric
McLuhan call their four questions a tetrad. They believe the four questions
call attention to the effect a given technology has on the
environment—how it alters what we see (the figure) and what we don't (the
ground). ·
What does it
enhance or intensify? McLuhan has long held that
all media extend or amplify parts of the human body or mind. The answer to this
question shows what organs or senses our technological tools make more
prominent. For example the car greatly enhances how fast our feet will take us,
and as any teenager knows, can increase our sense of independence. ·
What does it
render obsolete or displace? "When one area of
experience is heightened or intensified, another is diminished or numbed."
The car rendered the horse and buggy obsolete. Thigh and calf muscles atrophied
as long walks and bike rides declined. ·
What does it
retrieve that was previously obsolesced? The
McLuhans say that retrieval is the process by which something long obsolete is
pressed back into service; the forgotten ground becomes figure through the new
situation. The driver of a car becomes the modern knight in shining armor, an
empowered king of the road when behind the wheel. ·
What does it
produce or become when pressed to an extreme?
"When pushed to the limits of its potential, the new form will tend to
reverse what had been its original characteristic." In other words, what
is the flip side or downside potential of the new technology? For the car,
traffic jams, gridlock and urban sprawl are the ground that now figures
prominently in most drivers' lives. We've used bullets rather than numbers to set off the
questions of the tetrad because the McLuhans intended no hierarchy or sequence
among them. They see all four issues—and only these four—as
inherent in every form of media from inception." -----Original Message----- hi brad it is indeed frustrating dealing with the forced
changes. another bit of evidence of the rampage of greed in our society. now
that macintosh has a new model with the intel chip even my friend's new
G5 is becoming obsolete. i have no wish or money to buy a new
computer. i have alot of software for this one that i like and know how to use.
a new computer would be like stating over again. living outside a
small town i feel no need for a cell phone and even an ipod would be an
unnecessary toy. i don't want to be a technological luddite as i really
love my computer. besides all of the new gadgets could be made so they
would be compatable with older models. i'll hang in here with what i have
for as long as possible. nice to see you on the list again. bests, carol xx { brad brace } wrote: > > Used to be... that a real concerted effort was
made to > accommodate older/cheaper technologies -
'universal access,' > etc - but clearly the carts are recklessly
getting miles > ahead of the horses. <this used to enable a comfortable > old-tech-as-art strategy> Isn't it
exasperating to so often > waste so much time&money making your computer
'compatible' > or just function? > > /:b > |
- RE: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UPDATE Allan Revich
- RE: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UPDATE Crispin Webb
- FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UPDATE Walter Cianciusi
- Re: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UPDATE suse
- RE: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UPDATE Allan Revich
- Re: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UPDATE Carol Starr
- RE: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UPDATE { brad brace }
- Re: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UPDATE suse
- Re: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UPDATE { brad brace }
- Re: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UP... Carol Starr
- RE: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UP... Allan Revich
- Re: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UP... Carol Starr
- RE: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UP... Allan Revich
- Re: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UP... Carol Starr
- RE: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UP... Allan Revich
- Re: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UP... Carol Starr
- RE: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UP... Allan Revich
- RE: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UPDATE andrew dalio
- Re: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UPDATE Walter Cianciusi
- Re: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UP... andrew dalio
- Re: FLUXLIST: FLUXUS PODCAST UP... { brad brace }