Understanding Media

The Extensions of Man

By: Marshall McLuhan

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Hardcover | 18 May 2001 | Edition Number 2

At a Glance

Hardcover
400 Pages

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New edition

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23.39 x 15.6 x 2.24

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When Marshall McLuhan first coined the phrases global village and the medium is the message in 1964, no-one could have predicted today's information-dependent planet. No-one, that is, except for a handful of science fiction writers and Marshall McLuhan. Understanding Media was written twenty years before the PC revolution and thirty years before the rise of the Internet. Yet McLuhan's insights into our engagement with a variety of media led to a complete rethinking of our entire society. He believed that the message of electronic media foretold the end of humanity as it was known. In 1964, this looked like the paranoid babblings of a madman. In our 21st century digital world, the madman looks quite sane. Understanding Media : the most important book ever written on communication. Ignore its message at your peril.

About The Author

Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) Communications theorist, born in Canada. He is known as the original "high guru" of media culture and appeared in Woody Allen's Annie Hall as himself.

Industry Reviews

'McLuhan sings of the furthest reaches of electronic culture, when computer technology has replaced language with instant nonverbal communication.' - Wired

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Introduction to the MIT Press Edition	p. ix

Introduction	p. 3
The Medium Is the Message	p. 7
Media Hot and Cold	p. 22
Reversal of the Overheated Medium	p. 33
The Gadget Lover: Narcissus as Narcosis	p. 41
Hybrid Energy: Les Liaisons Dangereuses	p. 48
Media as Translators	p. 56
Challenge and Collapse: The Nemesis of Creativity	p. 62

The Spoken Word: Flower of Evil?	p. 77
The Written Word: An Eye for a Ear	p. 81
Roads and Paper Routes	p. 89
Number: Profile of the Crowd	p. 106
Clothing: Our Extended Skin	p. 119
Housing: New Look and New Outlook	p. 123
Money: The Poor Man's Credit Card	p. 131
Clocks: The Scent of Time	p. 145
The Print: How to Dig It	p. 157
Comics: MAD Vestibule to TV	p. 164
The Printed Word: Architect of Nationalism	p. 170
Wheel, Bicycle, and Airplane	p. 179
The Photograph: The Brothel-without-Walls	p. 188
Press: Government by News Leak	p. 203
Motorcar: The Mechanical Bride	p. 217
Ads: Keeping Upset with the Joneses	p. 226
Games: The Extensions of Man	p. 234
Telegraph: The Social Hormone	p. 246
The Typewriter: Into the Age of the Iron Whim	p. 258
The Telephone: Sounding Brass or Tinkling Symbol?	p. 265
The Phonograph: The Toy That Shrank the National Chest	p. 275
Movies: The Real World	p. 284
Radio: The Tribal Drum	p. 297
Television: The Timid Giant	p. 308
Weapons: War of the Icons	p. 338
Automation: Learning a Living	p. 346
Further Readings for Media Study	p. 361
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Understanding Media

The Extensions of Man

At a Glance

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

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