We covered a lot in this lecture, but I was certainly given a lot to think about. We spoke a lot about that bloke Marshall McLuhan. Ivan basically said that we'd either find his 'theories' really interesting or think they are a load of rubbish. I have to say I did agree with much of what McLuhan suggested. There were some exaggerations on his part, but on the whole I do agree.
Of the many things we spoke about, I particularly enjoyed the second half of the lecture/seminar. We discussed Hot and Cool media, and spoke about McLuhan's thoughts on where our mediums should go (i.e. Television, Film, Newspapers, etc) and then critiqued them.
I feel that while Radio used to be hot media, where you could be described as a 'spectator', not requiring much interaction, this is no longer valid. Radio in our modern culture is highly interactive, with people calling in, texting in, etc. For this reason I feel as though it should be classed as cool media.
We finished by talking about the 'Law of Media Tetrads'. Essentially, ANYTHING can be put into this 'law'.
Of the many things we spoke about, I particularly enjoyed the second half of the lecture/seminar. We discussed Hot and Cool media, and spoke about McLuhan's thoughts on where our mediums should go (i.e. Television, Film, Newspapers, etc) and then critiqued them.
I feel that while Radio used to be hot media, where you could be described as a 'spectator', not requiring much interaction, this is no longer valid. Radio in our modern culture is highly interactive, with people calling in, texting in, etc. For this reason I feel as though it should be classed as cool media.
We finished by talking about the 'Law of Media Tetrads'. Essentially, ANYTHING can be put into this 'law'.
Fig 1.1: BMW 1 Series (Source: bmwblog.com, 2009)
THIS is a BMW 1 Series. When I'm an app developer and I make the next Angry Birds of the future, sailing around the internet aboard the HTML7, I'm going to have one of these. Maybe a more up to date version. I DIGRESS.
The BMW 1 Series is a car.
Cars:
1. Extend our legs.
2. Retrieves the notion of 'the knight' in the 'olden days', questing, being adventurous, etc.
3. Reverses into gridlock & pollution.
4. Obsolesces horses (as a method of transport).
We looked at this example in class, and then did our own. A classmate and I decided to attempt to put the Internet into one of these tetrads, however it was quite difficult. Cars are used for one purpose, to travel. However, the internet has many applications. A method of communication, ways of gathering information, ways to cause harm to others (through hacking, etc), etc. So, we chose to focus on a specific application - Internet for ways of gathering information.
1. Extends knowledge/intelligence
2. Retrieves the Godlike notion of omniscience.
3. Reverses into lack of independence, lack of self-adventure/discovery.
4. Obsolesces non-fiction books.
I liked a lot of McLuhan's ideas and I think I'll be looking more into his work over the next 3 years.
Also, Nicole Kidman.
Also, Nicole Kidman.
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