Yearly Archives: 2010
The Agenbite of Outwit – McLuhan
McLuhan, M. (1997). Media research: technology, art, communication: Routledge. As Narcissus fell in love with an outering (projection, extension) of himself, man seems invariably to fall in love with the newest gadget or gimmick that is merely an extension of his own body” (121). McLuhan does not mean that we are prone to fall in…
Environment to Anti-Environment – McLuhan
“From the development of phonetic script until the invention of the electric telegraph human technology had tended strongly toward the furtherance of detachment and objectivity, detribalization and individuality. Electric circuitry has quite the contrary effect. It involves in depth. It merges the individual and mass environment” (112). I did not take too much from this…
Acoustic Space – McLuhan
McLuhan, M. (1997). Media research: technology, art, communication: Routledge. In many preliterate cultures the binding power of oral tradition is so strong that the eye is subservient to the ear. … In our society, however, to be real, a thing must be visible, and preferably constant” (39). I largely concur with this direction of thought….
The Electronic Age: The Age of Implosion – McLuhan
McLuhan, M. (1997). Media research: technology, art, communication: Routledge. In The Electronic Age – The Age of Implosion, McLuhan discusses the idea that the explosion of the electronic age has actually created an implosion of our models of perception. This is to say that we are now ever-more aware of individuals at much greater distances…
Myth and Mass Media – McLuhan
McLuhan, M. (1997). Media research: technology, art, communication: Routledge. “The effect of media, like their “message,” is really in their form and not in their content” (10). “The spectator or reader must now be co-creator” (12). In Myth and Mass Media, McLuhan discusses language and mass media in regard to the making of myth. While…
Cyberliteracy (4) – Distance Education
Gurak, L. J. (2001). Cyberliteracy: Navigating the internet with awareness. New Haven Conn.; London: Yale University Press. Even in 2001 (when Cyberliteracy was published), the use of the internet for distance education was growing. Gurak addresses this point from sort of a media richness perspective. “The richest form of communication has always been face-to-face. Humans…
Cyberliteracy(3) – Anonymity and Interactivity
Gurak, L. J. (2001). Cyberliteracy: Navigating the internet with awareness. New Haven Conn.; London: Yale University Press. Beyond Reach and Speed, the features of anonymity and interactivity define cyberliteracy even more. Anonymity Anonymity refers to the fact that in most settings, we can never really be sure who is on the other end.
Cyberliteracy(2) – Speed and Reach
Gurak, L. J. (2001). Cyberliteracy: Navigating the internet with awareness. New Haven Conn.; London: Yale University Press. In Chapter two of Cyberliteracy, Laura Gurak discusses speed, reach, anonymity, and interactivity, “[T]he functional units by which most Internet communication takes place (29).” She notes that whether they are working alone or in combination, they help explain…
Cyberliteracy (1)
“To be cyberliterate means that we need to understand the relationship between our communication technologies and ourselves, our communities, and our cultures (16).” Gurak, L. J. (2001). Cyberliteracy: Navigating the internet with awareness. New Haven Conn.; London: Yale University Press. Gurak defines cyberliteracy as “a critical technology literacy, one that includes performance, but also relies…
The Tipping Point
Gladwell, M. (2001). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference: Abacus. This book is essentially an analysis of how/why certain trends take hold with public audiences and consumers, while others do not. The idea of The Tipping Point is based on Gladwell’s contention that any style, trend, or phenomenon that can…