McLuhan defines Medium as any extension of humankind. This is to say that technology does not change humanity, but simply adds to what humans already are. McLuhan disagrees with a commonly held value that how a technology is used is irrelevant to its value. This is a major concept in how he speaks of the common confusion of message. The content, or rather how new technology is used is widely viewed as the true value of any object.
McLuhan: Message of Mechanization was the same for Cadillacs and Cornflakes
McLuhan, to show the flaws of the common belief that the message resides or depends on how the medium is used (the “content” output), uses the example of mechanization (machinery to assist the work of human operators), pointing out that regardless of the product (i.e. cornflakes or Cadillacs), the impact on workers and society is the same.[
Digital Media is Different from Print and TV
More and more, it’s becoming apparent that digital publishing is its own thing, not an additional platform for established news companies. They can buy their way into it, but their historical advantages are often offset by legacy costs and bureaucracy.
In digital media, technology is not a wingman, it is The Man. Kenneth Lerer, manager of Lerer Ventures and one of the backers of BuzzFeed and The Huffington Post, says that whenever he is pitched an editorial idea, he always asks who the technology partner is. How something is made and published is often as important as what is made.
.. “Digital journalism is as different from print and TV journalism as print and TV are from each other,” Mr. Blodget said by telephone from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Few people expect great print news organizations to also win in TV. Similarly, few should expect great TV or print organizations to win in digital. The news-gathering, storytelling and distribution approaches are just very different.”
Everything old is new again
McCluhan’s 4 Laws: What does it retrieve from the past?