I’m doing two subjects at uni at the moment, one is Technocultures and one is Introduction to Media and Popular Cultures, so I’m mainly thinking about media related things at the moment. Next week as part of a tutorial I have to give a presentation on someone’s interpretation of McLuhan’s theory that “the medium is the message.” Whilst I was thinking about this I read part of this article, which made a comment about current media:
Today’s media is in fact much closer to a real-world ecosystem in the way it circulates information than it is like the old industrial, top-down models of mass media. It’s a much more diverse and interconnected world, a system of flows and feeds – completely different from an assembly line.
It made me wonder, if the medium is the message, then what is the computer’s medium. Is it the screen and keyboard? Is it the application? If it’s the application, then does that mean that the content you get from an RSS reader is different from the content you read in the web browser?
Jess | 23-Mar-09 at 3:07 pm | Permalink
Hi Mike, i stumbled onto this wonderful blog of yours. Great Interface! (wow i never get to use that word!)
People like us who were subjected to hsc art major works should know all about media as the message. Your ‘light in a box’ could not have been more different from my ‘painted boxes’. Right away the message was unique to each media (medium?)
Anyway, keep it up, and i’m going to need ur assistance at some point with this twitter thingy. wtf?
Love ya Mike
Mike Brand | 24-Mar-09 at 7:02 am | Permalink
When McLuhan said “The medium is the message” he I think he meant that we should be looking at what mediums we consume. That it is not what we are watching on TV that is important, but the fact that we are sitting in a darkened room with our family silently watching moving images and listening to the dialogue.
But then I read your comment and it makes a lot of sense. It’s like a micro application of McLuhan’s idea. I think he might interpret art as one medium (I have no basis for this theory) But within art each of the mediums is, tautologically (yes I did need to look that word up) a medium, and each one has a separate message. I guess there must be different layers. Eg with a computer, there is the medium of the computer, which contains the medium of the web browser, MSN and iTunes, for example.
But art goes a step further and crystallises these medium choices. The artist has to think about what medium is the best expression of their idea. At least that’s my opinion.
Now you’ve made me think too much…
Twitter is easy and cool. it is facebook statuses without facebook.
Sam | 10-Aug-09 at 8:00 am | Permalink
With such a user heavy dependent and unregulated ‘eco’system, should we no be worried about mediation, facts checking, validity of info? Then again, I saw a lecture commenting on the quality of old school encyclopedia articles, which made them sound just a dodgey as any old web opinion.
Sam | 10-Aug-09 at 8:03 am | Permalink
Maybe one day it will regulate itself somehow and find an equilibrium state. That is, only after the web grows out of it’s ADD ‘entertain me NOW!’ attitude. Ps: I is also guilty of that
Sam | 03-Mar-10 at 9:31 am | Permalink
Wishes for a new Mike’s webpage update about new uni, brisbananahome