A Few Shared Thoughts on McLuhan's "Understanding Media" #COM641

The following Summary is taken from Chapter 19 of "Understanding Media"


Wheel, Bicycle, and Airplane

Summary: McLuhan stresses the revolutionary change of media as the message, but in this chapter he creates a “linguistic metaphor for the operation of media; “When such ablatives intrude, they alter the syntax of society.” (Editor, 244) We see the relationship between the mechanical to the organic form of technology.

Page 245: Revolutionary technology- extending the range and speed of human action, while being sensitive to the psychic and social implications of the technological extension of man…

Page 245-46: Invention of the wheel  horse collar  harness  wagon (axles & brakes)  streetcar  railroad  suburb  automobile  airplane  car (human chauffeur)- the shaping power of technology is “waning in the electric age of information, and that fact makes us much more aware of its characteristic form as now tending toward the archaic.”

Page 247: Idea of the most complicated uses of the “wheel” is the “movie camera.” It is, by trade, an intricate set of wheels.

Page 249: The rhyme of Humpty Dumpty demonstrates the challenge of the electromagnetic automation.

Quotes worth mention:
…”Things need to be studied in isolation. This is the habit of specialism that quite naturally derives from typographic culture.” (245)

“Under stress, it is more natural to fragment our own bodily form, and to let part of it go into another material, than it is to transfer any of the emotions of external objects into another media.” (247)

A Common Response to McLuhan #COM641

When all else fails, so will technology... #COM641

This is not our vehicle (we do not buy Ford), but the photo is posted so that you too, can understand and feel the frustration.

Thursday evening was anything but typical for the Keeler household. At 4:51 PM I received a phone call from my husband who had informed me that he would not be making it home in time for me to drive to Grand Rapids for my Emerging Telecommunications Technology class. The reason: His care over-heated in Hamilton, MI and he was stranded. Because of this, we were now without child care. Oh the luxuries of owning an automobile.

Three years ago (prior to us being parents) my husband called home from work to tell me that his car started on fire and that he was stranded. I don't remember feeling the same frustration then as I do now, but I'm sure it has something to do with the inconvenience of it all at the time each break-down occured.

So, why do I share this with you? In our most recent discussions in class regarding technological determinism and trying to answer the question if society's technology drives the development of its social structure/culture, I find it strangely ironic that I am facing one of the faults of technology...that it is subject to fault and it is not an absolute.

To further this example, I will use what Neil Postman says regarding technology and the automobile as a trade-off:

"Think of the automobile, which for all of its obvious advantages, has poisoned our air, choked our cities, and degraded the beauty of our natural landscape."

Postman furthers this discussion by talking about what will technology do and what will it then undo? We choose to drive fuel engined cars while the trade-off is corrupting the natural beauty of the environment of which we live.

The second part of this example is Postman's idea of advantages and disadvantages. Obviously our vehicle, for the most part, has been an advantage for our family- the disadvantage then, is when it decides to over-heat and disrupt our schedule, our finances, etc.

The final perspective to connect this situation with Postman's "Five Things to Know About Technological Change" is that of the automobile (technology) as mythic or God-given. Postman says, "When technology become mythic, it is always dangerous because it is then accepted as it is, and is therefore not easily susceptible to modification or control." Furthermore, Postman writes, "What I am saying is that our enthusiasm for technology can turn into a form of idolatry and our belief in its beneficence an be a false absolute. The best way to view technology is as a strange intruder, to remember that technology is not part of God's plan but a product of human creativity and hubris, and that its capacity for good or evil rests entirely on human awareness of what it does for us and to us."

Okay...so I don't think the car meant to be 'evil' by over-heating and causing me to miss class- cars don't have the ability to think...but I reflect on this experience for this one thing: "technology is not part of God's plan, but a product of human creativity and hubris..." God does not fail, but man does and so does man's creation.

Our Pontiac Grand Prix is close to 200,000 miles. It travels long distances on a daily basis. I cannot blame the car, but I can blame the technology- what else is there?

Can Humans Survive in a Completely Self-Sufficient Closed Environment? #COM641

In a recent Online article posted by Ryan Bradley, he writes about the possibility of humans living in a completely self-sufficient (closed) environment- and asks the question, is this possible?

NASA has been trying to create such an living environment since the early 1970's. It would inlcude a home which needs no power other than from the sun and water would then get broken down and reused- a very difficult process.

I understand the environmental friendly aspect of this new technology, but I do not understand the efficiency of it. It seems that we are currently more interested in making all things in our life work quicker with the "we want it now" mentality. So, how would a closed-environment living option appeal to the overall general public?

I'm Sorry, and the Question Is: Does Technology Drive History? #COM641

Parents Name Their Kid 'Like,' After Facebook
By Jared Newman on May 16, 2011

Read more: http://techland.time.com/2011/05/16/parents-name-their-kid-like-after-facebook/#ixzz1Ma56s9cj

In a Seinfeldian example of weird baby names, a couple in Israel has taken inspiration from Facebook and named their baby daughter "Like."

Lior and Vardit Adler fancied the idea of giving their child a unique name, Haaretz reports. Like had a nice ring to it, they decided, while also representing the age of social networking. "If once people gave Biblical names and that was the icon, then today this is one of the most famous icons in the world," Lior Adler said.

Not surprisingly, the Adlers' friends couldn't believe the name, although they probably should've expected something off-beat; the family's other two children are named Pie and Dvash, the Hebrew word for honey. I'm reminded of the Seinfeld episode in which Costanza decides on the name Seven for his firstborn.

I suppose baby Like is a testament to the success of Facebook's Like button, which launched nearly a year ago and is now ubiquitous on the web. Like has inspired Google to create its own +1 button, but to my knowledge no one has named a baby after it. I'm also not aware of any babies named Reddit, Digg, StumbleUpon or Yahoo! Buzz.

But don't even think about naming your kid "Facebook." It's already taken.

Article retrieved from: http://techland.time.com/2011/05/16/parents-name-their-kid-like-after-facebook/

Neil Postman - 6 Questions for Understanding Media #COM641

Found this video today and it is awesome.

http://www.blip.tv/file/4065269


Question #1 What is the problem to which this technology is a solution?
Question #2 Whose problem is it?
Question #3 Suppose we solve this problem and solve it dicicively, what new problems might be created because we have solved the problem?
Question #4 Which people and what institutions might be most seriously harmed by a technological solution?
Question #5 What changes in language are being enforced by new technologies and what is being gained and lsot by such changes?
Question #6 What sort of people and institutions acquire special economic and political power because of technological change?

At the end of this course, I will use this blog posting again, in which I will attempt to answer the above six questions.

"Hey Mr. (Neil) Postman..." #COM641

From Delivering a Hand-Written Letter to Creating one out of Thin-Air...

Okay, so there's more to it than this- BUT- the point still remains that "there is no aspect of human relations that has not been technicalized and therefore relegated to the control of experts" (PG 88).

Say What? Postman writes how the the United Sates has, in a sense, provided experts to help us in every area of our lives. we rarely do anything without having been educating by these 'experts' on how to loves, influence, create friendships, etc. What this means for us, then, is that there is a solution to all our problems via technical means.

OR

Is this all a "fragment" of the Technopolit's imaginations? (PG 88). Can technical machinery consule our issues alone and without an expert as a guide?

Put a stamp on that thought and see how far it goes!

Neil Postman...Technopoly #COM 641

Just when I thought I could take a hiatus from McLuhan, here he is again creeping up in the writings of Neil Postman in his book, "Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology."

IS TECHNOLOGY FAILING OUR CHILDREN?
Postman writes that, "children come to school having been deeply conditioned by the biases of television. There, they encounter the world of the printed word. A sort of psychic battle takes place, and there are many casualities- children who can't learn to read or won't, children who cannot organize their thought into logical structure even in a simple paragraph, children who cannot attend to lectures or oral explanations for more than a few minutes at a time. They are failures, but not because they are stupid. They are failures because there is a media war going on, and they are on the wrong side- at least for the moment" (PG 17).

As a mother and educator, I really want to understand what technological advances, the many that exists and those to come, will mean for our children. It concerns me that as parents and young teachers, that adults will not be able to 'keep up' or to really understand this new world in which our kids live in. We are caught in one of those 'it's too soon to tell' instances, which doesn't help anyone!

Quotes from the text:
"...the uses made of any technology are largely determined by teh structure of the technology itself- that is, the functions follow from its form." PG 7
"...technology imperiously commadeers our most important terminology. It redefines "freedom," "truth," "intelligence," "fact," "wisdom," "memory," "history"- all the words we live by. And it does not pause to tell us. And we do not pause to ask." PG 8
"...to whom will teh technology give greater power and freedom? And whose power and freedom will be reduced by it?" PG 11
"...whose unseen mind guides the unseen hand..." PG 41

Related Web Sources:
Thoughts on Postman's book
http://www.ibiblio.org/cmc/mag/1995/mar/hyper/npcontexts_119.html
http://www.hartmen.us/todd/BookReviews/0679745408-Technopoly.html
Technopoly in Education
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_RAi3XAPhA

Blog Hiatus Turned Hijack! #COM641

For the 9 that follow me...

It is no secret that my last blog post was in June, 2010- almost one year ago. Therefore, I see no reason why you should be upset when I inform you that for the months of May-June, my blog site will become that of an academic matter.

If you are interested in the surrender of culture to technology and what this exactly means, stay tuned as thoughts and opinions will be shared and could possibly interest you. However, if you prefer only to hear the mushy family stuff, you may want to block me from your list until this assignment is complete.

Thank you!