Digital McLuhan

Questions for the article “Digital McLuhan”

1.     What are the differences between the pre-literate acoustic world and the alphabetical visual world? How does the media of television become a part of the acoustic world?

-The pre-literate acoustic world is the world viewed through pre-literate eyes, a world of no boundaries in which information emerges from fixed positions but anywhere and everywhere. The acoustic world is how we get in touch with the world using our senses. The alphabetical is when everything we see has a meaning. Television is a part of the acoustic world because it can send information and distribute content to anywhere around the world.

2.     Why does the alphabet have the segregating tendencies? How exactly does the printing press reverse the segregating tendencies?

-The alphabet has segregating tendencies because in the beginning, texts were only readable by one person at a time. It was very difficult for things to be copied and released to large amounts of people. The printing press reversed this because it increased the number of copies that can be published. More people can view a single item at the same time.

3.     How does the alphabetic communication in online communication make cyberspace acoustic? How is the online acoustic world different from the television, radio, or print acoustic world?

-The alphabetic communication in online communication makes cyberspace acoustic because the alphabet is a set structure that we base our language off. To this day we continue to use the alphabet in print form, but in diverse and innovative ways. Online is different compared to radio, television, and print because the internet gives us the ability to write whatever we desire. We are able to chat and interact with people quicker and easier compared to radio and television, which partakes a longer response period.

4.     Not only do we invent media and media technologies but also we select their uses in different contexts. What are the two selection criteria? According to the selection criteria, please discuss what will happen to our online communication in 20 years.
-The two selection criteria are 1. We want media to extend our communications beyond the biological boundaries of naked seeing and hearing of media as “extensions” across time and space. 2. We want media to recapture element of that biological communication which early artificial extensions may have lost. In the next 20 years, media will continue to evolve until the end of time. Technology will continue to replace itself to find new, innovative versions. Technology will also continue to advance and discover new efficient discoveries.