McLuhan

When I started to read the provided text on McLuhan I was having a hard time wrapping my head around his ideas and philosophies. They are very different from anything I have ever heard before related to media studies. But once I started to understand the basic ideas behind his theories I found the text to present some really interesting ways to look at media from a communication perspective and found excerpts that related very well to the media medium I selected in the beginning of the semester, Comcast On Demand.


A phrase that sums up Mcluhan's perspective is "the medium is the message". It is saying that the form of communication, as opposed to the actual content, is the most important factor to consider when observing the effects media has on a person. This to me was a very foreign concept. In class we discussed many other theories that related to the content of the media, how we reacted to it, and how it effected us. Even though one might not agree with everything each of the theories teaches, it's a little easier to be able to understand content effecting us because this is familiar idea to us and is talked about often in main-stream media. Some of the ideas in the theories we discussed previously seem almost a product of common-sense. They are easy for the average person to understand. After watching some of the movie clips, I realized I wasn't the only person that found McLuhan's ideas to be foreign. Mcluhan was a very misunderstood man. Many people laughed at him and his ideas and the media of his time actually convinced the masses that they would not understand McLuhan. Once you really look at things from his perspective, you can see that he made some very interesting points. And you can understand why many followed his theory in thinking even after his death.

The idea of "multitasking" is mentioned in the text. With Comcast On Demand you can watch or hear previews for movies and T.V. shows while reviewing other lists of programs. These previews can engage and distract you, so you will continue looking until you find exactly what you want. Joseph Urgo argues that, in the technological environment of today, human consciousness becomes "chronically distracted to the point that distraction is it's chief characteristic". The thought that we go out of our way to be distracted is bizarre but when you really think about it, it's so true.

In Jack Lule's research, he referred to the "expectation of immediacy that new technologies encourage". Comcast On Demand was developed specifically for instant gratification. Viewers no longer have to wait to see the specific movies or programs they want to watch, they can choose to watch them whenever they want to. Some networks, like Showtime, even post new episodes of popular shows before they premiere on T.V. The text explains that when you take Mcluhan's famous phrase, "The medium is the message" and change one letter, the phrase is transformed into "The medium is the massage", as if the media is "massaging" our minds. This metaphor is saying that "media manipulates how we perceive ourselves, others, society, and the world". On a whole we are a "I want it NOW" society and Comcast On Demand provides an outlet to satisfy that feeling of urgency.

Socializing on the internet from the workplace

Is surfing the web, writing and reading personal e-mails and instant messaging effecting today's workforce? Many would agree there is far too much of the workday spent engulfed in websites or social conversation online. It has become such a problem that many companies have blocked certain websites like MySpace, Facebook, and AOL. But that does little to stop the technology savvy "Generation Y", who can quickly navigate through their personal blackberries and iphones to check these sites compulsively if they so choose.  I believe that if these minutes used for personal web surfing and chatting were used instead for actual work, managers would be astonished at the way their productivity would increase.

In order to test this theory two groups of employees would be observed for a given amount of time, say a week. Group 1 would have access to all websites, even if usually blocked. They would be watched carefully. Time on these websites would be logged and hidden cameras could even observe how often they used their personal phones. There would be a manager on duty, but he/she would stay in his/her office in order to allow Group 1 to surf and socialize as freely as possible. They would proceed with their usual workday given the same amount of work as usual and after a week, results would show how much time was spent "productively working" and how much time was spent otherwise. 

Group 2 would be blocked from all websites except anything needed for their daily work. They would be asked to check all personal items upon entrance in a secure designated area away for their workspace. They would be under the watchful eye of an involved manager who would make him/herself present throughout the workday.  Group 2 would be observed in the same way as Group 1. The speed in finishing work would be documented and results of this study could verify whether the usage of personal websites, e-mails, and instant messaging is effecting the productivity of a given workforce.