Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man

by Marshall Mcluhan, Lewis H. Lapham

Overview

Terms and phrases such as "the global village" and "the medium is the message" are now part of the lexicon, and McLuhan's theories continue to challenge our sensibilities and our assumptions about how and what we communicate.

This reissue of Understanding Media marks the thirtieth anniversary (1964-1994) of Marshall McLuhan's classic expose on the state of the then emerging phenomenon of mass media. Terms and phrases such as "the global village" and "the medium is the message" are now part of the lexicon, and McLuhan's theories continue to challenge our sensibilities and our assumptions about how and what we communicate.

There has been a notable resurgence of interest in McLuhan's work in the last few years, fueled by the recent and continuing conjunctions between the cable companies and the regional phone companies, the appearance of magazines such as WiRed, and the development of new media models and information ecologies, many of which were spawned from MIT's Media Lab. In effect, media now begs to be redefined. In a new introduction to this edition of Understanding Media, Harper's editor Lewis Lapham reevaluates McLuhan's work in the light of the technological as well as the political and social changes that have occurred in the last part of this century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262631594
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	10/24/1994
Series:	The MIT Press
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	392
Sales rank:	100,164
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.85(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"...the most brilliant marketing mind of all belonged to Marshall McLuhan.

Understanding Media is a timeless analysis of how language, speech and technology shape human behavior in the era of mass communication. The book is a cautionary tale for marketers today who hear the Web's siren call and ignore the power of the spoken word." Wall Street Journal

The MIT Press

Editorial Reviews

...the most brilliant marketing mind of all belonged to Marshall McLuhan. Understanding Media is a timeless analysis of how language, speech and technology shape human behavior in the era of mass communication. The book is a cautionary tale for marketers today who hear the Web's siren call and ignore the power of the spoken word.—Wall Street Journal—

From the Publisher

...the most brilliant marketing mind of all belonged to Marshall McLuhan. Understanding Media is a timeless analysis of how language, speech and technology shape human behavior in the era of mass communication. The book is a cautionary tale for marketers today who hear the Web's siren call and ignore the power of the spoken word.

—Wall Street Journal

Reviews

...the most brilliant marketing mind of all belonged to Marshall McLuhan. Understanding Media is a timeless analysis of how language, speech and technology shape human behavior in the era of mass communication. The book is a cautionary tale for marketers today who hear the Web's siren call and ignore the power of the spoken word.

Wall Street Journal

**** Cited in BCL3. A reissue marking the 30th anniversary of McLuhan's classic on the then-emerging phenomena of mass media. McLuhan's prescient view of a media-sculpted society of the future is supplemented by an introductory essay by Lewis Lapham, editor of Harper's. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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