UNDERSTANDING MEDIA-UNDERSTANDING MAN A VERY GOOD BOOK INDEED. A POWERFUL LITTLE THING. TAMP OUT YOUR JOINTS. CLEAR YOUR HEADS OF COCAINE. GET A GOOD OLD FIFTY YEAR OLD DICTIONARY AND SETTLE DOWN TO A GOOD READ...
From 1964, and Could've Been 2004 This book is over 40 years old, and yet it was so far ahead of its time in its examination of media forms and their impact on mankind that it could still be used as the text for a graduate course. Simply amazing. Not a simple, laymen's read; none of McLuhan's books ever were. Still, enormously rewarding for those who want to develop a deeper understanding of how inventions such as moveable type, television, and even the lightbulb have changed not only how we relate to one another but how we even define 'we' in the first place. "Understanding Media" will make you see yourself differently in the world that surrounds you. How many books can you say that about?The first systematic articulation of McLuhan's thoughts Marshall McLuhan's contributions to media theory are mostly dismissed in two phrases - the first one hardly his major contribution - namely: 'global village' and 'medium is the message'. And most people who manage to cite the second phrase as his contribution still miss out on his pun 'medium is the massage'.
In this book, Marshall McLuhan expands on the scattered ideas of his book 'The Gutenberg Galaxy' into a systematic theory of media. The book has two sections.
The first part details his theory of media. There are many fruitful ideas here worth a further study like:
1. Medium as at once the message (as it effects in spite of its content rather than because of it) and massage of senses. 2. Media as extensions of man (that is, any tool that mediates human action or thought rather than just communication media). 2. Hot media (which accentuate senses) and Cold media (which are synaesthetic). 3. Hybrid energy released by combination of media.
The second part details his interepretations of each medium in terms of his theory, and in accordance with his definition of media, covers things like cars, clothes etc., apart from television, radio, advertising etc.
Both McLuhan's general theory of media and his theoretical articulations of a particular medium provoke and inspire a new way of thinking about media, even if the reader might not agree with all his theorizations.
