Individual Assignment 2 – Pedro Almeyda

McLuhan displayed his belief for the medium is the message in a variety of methods by predicting how society would consume media in the future. Though many were skeptical, in his 1969 interview with Playboy, he goes into detail explaining exactly what he means. By stating that the medium is the message, McLuhan has the opportunity to explain how past innovative technology, such as Typography, has changed how media is delivered: “The most important quality of print is its repeatability; it is a visual statement that can be reproduced indefinitely”. For McLuhan, this technology acted as a betterment for society due to the fact that audiences could now be up to date with current event news faster thanks to the mass production if print. 

McLuhan also challenges certain held assumptions, such as the idea that the content itself is the message, rather than the medium. He makes the case by detailing exactly how the medium has the power to influence the content that is being delivered. this is good  McLuhan doesn’t necessarily state that content plays no role, he just means that the source of the content itself has a higher level of influence. “Because unlike previous environmental changes, the electric media constitute a total and near-instantaneous trans- formation of culture, values and attitudes”. McLuhan uses critical perspective to analyze exactly how different cultures perceive the meaning of the individual message depending on their backgrounds, values and time. Specifically, he argues how messages were perceived and conveyed back in the day compared to today. Prior to the invention of the alphabet, man lived in a world where all the senses in which they conveyed content was neutral. “The primary medium of communication was speech, and thus no man knew appreciably more or less than any other”. Today we are able to analyze and make our own image of the message depending on how exactly it is delivered to us. McLuhan brings up television as an example of a new, modern world invention, that transforms how we perceive these messages. McLuhan opens up the bounds of debate by using ‘low’ and ‘high’ definition to measure precisely how the content behind each message speaks to us, and whether or not it plays a valid role in today’s’ society. High/hot definition referring to low audience participation, where the viewer does not actively shape the image that they are seeing and thus, not creating a full sense of understanding. This is because the information is being fed directly to the mind of the audience. Whereas low/cool definition requires more of an input from the user, allowing little influence from the source of the message.  “This is, of course, just one more reason why the medium is the message, rather than the content; it is the participatory nature of the TV experience itself that is important, rather than the content of the particular TV image that is being invisibly and indelibly inscribed on our skins.”

you need to break this up into paragraphs, but you did a goo job of analysis.