Understanding new media extending marshall mcluhan biography

1964 book by Marshall McLuhan

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man is a 1964 book by Marshall McLuhan, in which the author proposes that the media, not the content that they carry, should be the focus of study.

Understanding New Media : Extending Marshall McLuhan

He suggests that the medium affects the society in which it plays a role mainly by the characteristics of the medium rather than the content. The book is considered a pioneering study in media theory.

McLuhan pointed to the light bulb as an example. A light bulb does not have content in the way that a newspaper has articles or a television has programs, yet it is a medium that has a social effect; that is, a light bulb enables people to create spaces during nighttime that would otherwise be enveloped by darkness.

He describes the light bulb as a medium without any content. McLuhan states that "a light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence".^[1]

More controversially, he postulated that content had little effect on societ Understanding New Media: Extending Marshall McLuhan LUC