Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan was a world renown Canadian scholar until his death in 1980. He was the Director of The Center for Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto. His influencial books include "Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man" (1964), and "The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects" (with Quentin Fiore, 1967). McLuhan was most notorious for his involvement in discourse concerning media and its role in society. He coined the popular phrase "the medium is the message." One of the pillars of McLuhan's theoretical findings was his tetrad of media effects which provided a framework for analyzing the effects on society of any given medium.
Some of his innovative ideas include "hot vs. cold media," "the medium is the message," and "the global village."
McLuhan argued that the creation of the printing press lead into the industrial revolution and that it was through the discovery of print media that the world became fragmented and humans became alienated from one another. He believed that the digital age through electronic media was a return to a more universal form of communication and collective interaction between people.
McLuhan was a favorite go-to for media theory, practically a household name, in the '60's and '70's and his theories are still hot topics of debate today. He lives on in popular culture as a quasi-cult figure through his film cameos and influential texts. Without Marshall McLuhan, the notion of a meta-media object may never have occured.
External Links
"The Official Site of Marshall McLuhan" http://www.marshallmcluhan.com
