Mediums
In this week’s reading of “Old Media, New Media, and Knowledge” by J.D. Applen, we are introduced to the phrase “the medium is the message.” Marshall McLuhan uses this phrase to show that in order to truly understand the medium and the technology we create, we also need to understand the larger effects it has on our culture and society. These changes are what we identify as the message. Unlike you’d assume, the message is not the information that is presented alongside a new medium. But rather how technology itself changes our culture.
Nicholas Carr adds to this by mentioning how the convenience technology provides is beneficial to us. However, that can also affect the way we interpret and apply new information. I would have to agree that technology definitely provides us with a lot of advantages. For example, all it takes is 10 seconds to search something in safari or google and you can find the answer to any question you ask. I mean the results might not always be 100% accurate but you will always find responses.
But then on the other hand, I do believe we rely a little too much on technology. Before the invention of phones and computers, we used to read maps and actually talk to people. Nowadays our GPS directs us to places and we communicate with our friends by liking their social media posts. Which yeah again, convenient, but every day we are just falling more and more out of touch with reality and it’ll eventually kill us. But that’s a theory for another time.
Platforms
I also learned a little about platforms from Chris Gilliard. Now big surprise, it has more than just one definition because why would anything be simple? But in this day and age it is usually used to describe the foundations upon which software products are built or the digital infrastructures that create interactions between participants. Gilliard believes that platforms can affect the way that education is being taught. And we know this to be true because when Covid came around, we were introduced to the platform Zoom and we were “learning” online. Everyone was just doing what they needed to do to get by without actually understanding the material.
Side note: Check out my last blog post
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