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We Shape Technology and forever thereafter Technology Shapes us...
On we go with more of what is still an introduction to the more detailed aspects of the course. The goal of this high level introduction is to situate the role of technology in business and society. 
At a basic level we're addressing the question: "why should I study IT, even if I have no interest in becoming an IT specialist?" On a more profound level we're being introduced to a way of thinking fit for this age - a way of thinking that you could use to your advantage in business or any other field.....a way of thinking that recognizes the critical, integral role technology has played, and is continuing, increasingly, to play in shaping our world.
As our earlier probes illustrate, indeed, technological discoveries matter! They can be used to cause dramatic shifts in the competitive landscape of business. But this is just a start. In fact they can start entire social revolutions by slowly reconfiguring our modes of communication; our modes of living.
And as the new millenium begins to unfold we steadily advance through the early stages of a revolution of unseen profundity and proportion. Canadian Marshall Mcluhan had an important message.
After three thousand years of explosion, by means of fragmentary and mechanical technologies, the Western world is imploding. During the mechanical ages we had extended our bodies in space. Today, after more than a century of electric technology, we have extended our central nervous system itself in a global embrace, abolishing both space and time, as far as our planet is concerned. Rapidly, we approach the final phase of extensions of man --the technological simulation of consciousnous, when the creative process of knowing will be collectively and corporately extended to the whole of human society, much as we have already extended our senses and our nerves by the various media.
--Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media, 1964
McLuhan proposed that media themselves, not the content they carry, should be the focus of study –- popularly quoted as "the medium is the message." McLuhan's theory was that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not by the content delivered over the medium, but by the characteristics of the medium itself.
"Much as we have already extended our senses and our nerves by the various media...", McLuhan says referring to the way we'll achieve technological simulation of consciousnous.
But Mcluhan can also be updated. The great prophet of the 20th century knew little of how in the decades after his death a new architectural model would emerge to define that global embrace. McLuhan's own lessons force us to rethink his legacy and adapt his ideas to reflect important shifts which have occured in our media ecology. In his wake the marriage of language, the computer and telecommunications technology, and the new forms this encouraged, created a new class of technology; a powerful hybrid of richly expressive, richly interactive communication; a new language and means of expression; a web of knowledge; a decentralized manifestation of what he predicted; a collective consciousnous defined by millions of wired individuals and the machines they wield.
Social Processes Reshaped in the Image of Technology
What's more, the nature of these revolutions can, to some extent be predicted. Go back to our discussions on some of the most important discoveries of our past...and ask yourself how the changes that unfolded after a major breakthrough were caused by the new structure imposed by the technology. Take the production line for instance. What is the social structure of a production line? What is the nature of the products it creates? How did industrialization change the way we live? What about electricity? Television? the Internet?
A key characteristic of a technology which we should study in order to truly understand its effects is its architecture. Architecture refers to the design or structure of something. For the most part we will use the word architecture to explore the world of software (see software architecture).
Check it out online
Marshall Mcluhan: We shape our tools and forever thereafter they shape us.
Posted by Mark Hemphill on September 11, 2007 in Module I - Introduction | Permalink
Comments
this link shows a picture of my city in Saudi Arabia
Posted by: abdullah and xiao jiang | Sep 13, 2007 12:05:26 PM
In looking at computing architectures, we can the advancement that many of them facilitated. For example, the original architecture of computers enabled us to store information and present it all in one place...on the computer. The client-server architecture allowed us to go from having data available on one computer to having data stored on one computer (the server) and making it available to many computers (the clients). Then the introduction of 3-tier or n-tier architectures gave us the ability to present one set of data in several presentation methods. For example, the same set of data can now be served up into a web page (e.g. your banking info in online banking) as well as the traditional computer program (what your banker looks at when you are at the bank) and even telephony (e.g. telephone banking). A couple of the more recent architectures, peer-to-peer and distributed computing, now facilitate the decentralization of information and processing of that information. What would McLuhan say was the message in this media? Perhaps that our society is developing a more collaborative attitude of sharing rather than hoarding.....as we are seeing already in the music, movie and software industries.
Posted by: Cory | Sep 17, 2007 10:51:13 PM
I totally agree with Cory, wow dude you gave quite a good explanation...I was about to break my head on this topic but luckily I saw your comment which made this topic easier and clear to understand.Thanks Cory for the simple explanation.
Posted by: Shakti Arora | Oct 12, 2007 10:49:14 PM
I think Marshall McLuhan's ideas were long before his time. In the past and present there have been specialists who understand medium and provide software so that we don't have to understand it we are just able to read the media. But i think in the future everyone will be able to understand the medium because of the courses and the more high tech that we are getting.
Posted by: Katelyn Tweedy | Oct 17, 2007 8:42:15 PM
I agree with Katelyn that McLuhan is ahead of his time. In his post at the top of the page what I interpret is that McLuhan is seeing the Networking age beginning. I think that he is remarking that for the first time we are seeing a revolution that revolves healvily around the social effects that new technology is having on society, or in other words peoples ability to network and communicate. He is observing that we've gone almost as far as we can as a divided population and that we are now "imploding" or increasing our abilities to network. He is observing the first few steps of a society that will change a lot due to globalization, and because he did so in the past and we are still learning about it now, that makes him ahead of his time.
Posted by: Eric Horne | Oct 18, 2007 1:08:24 AM
McLuhan's insight "the medium is the message". is really important during our time right now. look at how the world is able to find current news information. A 10 years ago i would have never believed you if you told me that i would be able to get a podcast on my ipod to get the news (well actually i wouldnt have known what an ipod was but i hope you get the point)...I would have thought you were dreaming if you told me that i could create my own cd's at home or if you explained that i could use a tvo to pause and play television shows whenever i felt i wanted to watch them. all of these different mediums of media are exactly what McLuhan said was the point. if you look at our age we are represented by the technological advances that have helped us to better communicate...some people came from an age where the telephone was the great invention, some the television, some the internet...kinda impressive that this man came up with such an insightful theory.
Posted by: Devon Gillis | Nov 8, 2007 7:18:38 PM
I agree with Devon and think that technology has come so far in such a short amount of time that it's crazy that McLuhan came up with such a great theory so long ago. I wonder what he would think of our technology these days. It's interesting to wonder what he would be doing if he were alive today and had the opportunity to use the technology that we have today. He was ahead of his time a long time ago.. I wonder what he would do for our world today.
Posted by: Kate MacDonald | Nov 14, 2007 11:10:59 AM
I agree with Devon and Kate in how fast technology has grown over the past 10 years. McLuhan would even be shocked with how advanced everything is now. But Im sure if he was still living he would have thought and improvement out technology even more. Every year there are new and more exciting electronics that come out, like Devon said an ipod. Even only a few years ago no one would have even known what an ipod was, and now everyone knows or has one. Technology is facinating how quickly it can improve.
Posted by: Carrie MacKay | Nov 14, 2007 4:27:17 PM
I too agree that it is amazing how this man could predict that technology would evolve that much and fast over time, and how heavily it effects our society. With they advanced age we live in, it is mind blowing to even think about what new technologies are to come.
Posted by: Nick Drake | Nov 26, 2007 1:27:52 PM
